


Cloud Nine (Daichi Sawamura x OC)

by MsUwU



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Awkward Romance, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Insecure Azumane Asahi, Inspired by Music, Karasuno, Mentioned Tanaka Ryuunosuke, Minor Original Character(s), Musical References, Nervous Azumane Asahi, Nishinoya Yuu & Tanaka Ryuunosuke are Bros, Oblivious Sawamura Daichi, Original Character(s), Protective Sawamura Daichi, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Romantic Fluff, Romantic Friendship, Sawamura Daichi in Love, Sawamura Daichi's Thighs, Slow Burn, Spoilers, Sugawara Koushi-centric, Tanaka Ryuunosuke is a Good Friend, Team Mom Sugawara Koushi, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:00:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 65,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26096734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsUwU/pseuds/MsUwU
Summary: The twists and turns of Karasuno halls were muscle memory to Sawamura at this point but in the evenings when the building was barren, there was a strange tranquillity in the normally bustling hallway that was only accentuated by that day's sunset bathing the walls in warm light. Though treading softly, his footfalls were all he could hear until his ears twitched after taking a left turn.Pausing momentarily to pinpoint the direction of the sound, Sawamura was quick to determine it was simply coming from the music club room at the end of the hall, across from his locker. His eyes flickered up to the clock that hung above a nearby classroom door - 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘺?--𝑰𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒄 𝒃𝒚 𝑩𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝑩𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒚.
Relationships: Sawamura Daichi/Original Character(s), Sawamura Daichi/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 68





	1. Chapter 1

[In July - Beach Bunny](https://youtu.be/sZjtIZJbalo)

After changing out of his training uniform, Sawamura unzipped his backpack to place the lazily folded clothes inside, letting out a sigh when he realized there was a textbook missing.

Beside him, Sugawara tilted his head softly to the side. "Everything okay, Daichi?"

"Yeah," he smiled, rubbing the back of his neck. "Just forgot my history textbook in my locker and I need to study before our test tomorrow. Shouldn't take long for me to grab it, I'll catch up with you in a few, Suga."

A nod of approval from his friend was all it took before the volleyball team captain slung his backpack over his shoulder and hustled out of the club room.

The twists and turns of Karasuno halls were muscle memory to Sawamura at this point, but in the evenings when the building was baren, there was strange tranquillity in the normally bustling hallway that was only accentuated by that day's sunset bathing the walls in warm light. Though treading softly, his footfalls were all he could hear until his ears twitched after taking a left turn.

Pausing momentarily to pinpoint the direction of the sound, Sawamura was quick to determine it was simply coming from the music club room at the end of the hall, across from his locker. His eyes flickered up to the clock that hung above a nearby classroom door – _who was still around at seven-thirty?_

The crisp electric notes of a song Sawamura didn't recognize cut through the silence that occupied the school as he continued to his locker, but he didn't mind the sound. In fact, it was a welcome accompaniment to his short journey and he found himself bobbing his head softly in time with the guitarist's peppy picking pattern along the way.

After reaching his destination, the brunette fiddled with his combination lock before pulling open the cold metal door and sliding his backpack off of his shoulder. As he unzipped the main pocket, the music stopped and the small smile on his lips shrunk, only to be replaced by a wider one when a new song started up and a female voice fluttered along with the clean and simple guitar riff.

 _~_  
_In July the sun was high_  
_The world was melting_  
_Through the sky_  
~

Quickly wedging his thick history textbook into his backpack, Sawamura zipped up the pocket and slung the bag back over his shoulder with a newfound determination – he had to know who that voice belonged to. After being mindful to shut his locker quietly to not disturb them, the volleyball team captain crept toward the room diagonally across from him.

Peering through the doorway, Sawamura caught sight of a girl sitting with one leg crossed over the other in an uncomfortable-looking metal folding chair, a beat-up sunburst Fender Strat balanced on her knee connected to a small amplifier. Her poker-straight golden brown hair hung like a curtain in front of her face as she focused her attention on the fretboard in her grip, oblivious to the male's presence.

~  
_Who am I?_  
_Sometimes I get a little paranoid_  
_Tryin' to figure it out_  
_Sun sets, only through the daylight_  
_At night, what does it become?_  
~

Sawamura leaned against the doorway, crossing his arms over his chest as he watched the girl before him with curiosity. Just as she finished leading herself through the chorus, the girl flubbed the chord change for the next verse and cursed, lifting her strumming hand to tuck her hair behind her ear only to jump as she became aware of his presence.

Swiftly tugging at the bottom of her skirt to ensure she wasn't showing an indecent amount of thigh, her cheeks began to ripen with a strawberry blush and her startled eyes darted down to study the speckled linoleum floor as she fought to hold a calm composure.

"Sorry to surprise you," he smiled apologetically. "I was enjoying the song and I didn't want to interrupt."

Bright brown eyes met with his, now recognizing him as the captain of Karasuno's thriving volleyball team and making her feel even more awkward as she'd seen him on TV only a few days prior. "I should've closed the door...sorry."

"I'm glad you didn't," he chuckled softly. "Then I wouldn't have had the pleasure of hearing you sing."

The female's shoulders lifted as she shrugged. "Um, thanks I guess?"

Sawamura's lips pulled upward. "You're welcome, I guess."

Absentmindedly, her fingers plucked at the strings of the guitar gifted to her by her mother at the tender age of thirteen while she stared at Sawamura, wondering why he was still there. A simple E minor pentatonic scale was her fidgeting fingers default setting, whenever her instrument was in her hands, her digits always moved along by muscle memory - she couldn't help it. Her bandmates, however, _hated_ it.

The girl chewed on the inside of her cheek for a minute before breaking the silence between them, feeling uncomfortable under his gaze. "Do you need something?"

"Not really," Sawamura rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess I'm just not used to seeing other people here this late. Do you often stick around after classes?"

"Mhmm," she nodded, not adding much to the conversation as she genuinely just wanted to keep practicing.

"Huh," he hummed, his eyes flickering down to the guitar in her hands as she picked a mindless melody upon the strings beneath her fingers. "Are you here alone?"

The girl raised an eyebrow at him, the question being one set off alarm bells in her head.

Immediately realizing that his inquiry was misconstrued, the captain grimaced. "I only ask because it's going to get dark soon and thought I'd offer to walk you to your bus stop if you were."

The way her gaze pierced him as she sized him up had Sawamura beginning to fidget with the strap of his backpack. The last thing he wanted was to make some stranger uncomfortable, but he also couldn't help wanting to make sure she'd be okay to get home. Judging by the deep red hue outside the window, there wasn't much daylight left and he'd kick himself in the ass if he at least didn't offer; it was the right thing to do.

"My mom's going to pick me up later," she lied, blinking plainly at him before adding, "Thanks anyway."

"Alright," Sawamura nodded, flashing her a friendly smile. "I'll stop disturbing your practice then. Maybe I'll see you around?"

"Hm, yeah, sure, whatever," she mumbled softly, her eyes finally detaching from his to be brought back to her fret hand.

Pushing himself away from the door frame, Sawamura left the room but his feet felt like they were plastered inside of two lead bricks the moment she started singing again. Stuck in place only a few feet away from the music room's open door, he felt his resting smile widen as her melodious voice called out the same lyrics as earlier, only to hear her mess up at the same verse as last time. He heard her sigh before completely restarting the song and repeating the same mistake yet again. The girl groaned heavily and the string of words that followed it made Sawamura grin before he continued on his way.

_"For fuck's sake, Suzume, you can do this!"_

_-_

Sugawara's eyes flickered to the top right corner of his phone's screen to check the time yet again, becoming slightly worried that it had taken his friend longer than anticipated to retrieve his textbook. He continued scrolling through his social media for another few minutes and when he finally heard approaching footsteps he locked his device and slipped it back into his pocket.

"Took you long enough," he teased before shooting his friend a smile. "Get lost on the way, Daichi?"

The brunette chuckled and shook his head. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Suga. Just got a bit...distracted."

"Distracted? By what?"

Nodding with his head toward the direction of home, Sawamura began walking at a slower pace until his friend fell into step beside him. "Someone was practicing in the music room near my locker."

"Really? I thought the only clubs that stayed this late were us and the track team."

"I don't think she was part of a club," Sawamura mused. "Or if she was, she was the last one there."

Sugawara hummed in acknowledgement as he focused ahead on the sun quickly setting. "So you made a new friend then?"

"I wouldn't go as far as to say that," the brunette laughed, thinking back to her judging stare. "She seemed rather unimpressed that I interrupted her."

Nudging his side teasingly, Sugawara chuckled as well. "You should see the look on your face when our practices get interrupted. It's like you're trying to use your thoughts to break someone's legs."

"I would never try to break both of someone's legs for disrupting, that's cruel," Sawamura smiled slyly as he looked over at his friend. "One, maybe. But never both."

"I should expect as much from such a reasonable captain," Sugawara laughed.

-

Suzume Kusaka practiced until the tips of her fingers felt like each time they touched a string they were stung by a wasp, and then she practiced more. Her determination was only matched by her stubbornness, and she was hell-bent on perfecting the new song she wrote before she presented it to her bandmates in a few days. Repeating the same notes over and over until the movements became ingrained into her brain, Kusaka's resolve didn't falter and the satisfaction she felt when she'd successfully played through the song in its entirety five times in a row was worth the work she'd put into it.

Smiling proudly to herself, the girl shut off the amplifier beside her and unplugged her guitar before glancing up at the clock above the door while wrapping her patch cord in a neat circle. _Eight twenty-five; still five minutes before the janitor comes to kick me out..._

With her Fender in hand, Kusaka rose from her seat and walked over to the table she'd placed her black soft-shell backpack style guitar case on top of and placed her instrument securely inside before zipping it up. She slipped her arms into the straps and hoisted the case onto her back, making her way over to her chair and folding it up before bringing it to lean against the wall with the rest. She grabbed her school bag, a cross-body messenger bag, and slung it into place before shutting off the lights in the room and heading out.

The streets were quiet and in her solitude Kusaka sang to herself as she walked the few blocks to her home, oblivious to the fact that she would pass the Karasuno volleyball captain's house on her way and that his window just so happened to be open.

Sawamura's bedroom's desk was positioned perpendicular to his window, leaving his desk chair directly beside it. His window was propped open to let the warm evening air circulate through his room and for the second time that day, his silence was interrupted by a mellifluous female voice and his head twisted in its direction.

~  
_In July we ran away_  
_Through hurricanes and tidal waves_  
_Sunburnt smiles, freckled face_  
_Our heads were filled with Outerspace_  
~

The girl's steps were bouncy and her hair swayed with each footfall, obviously quite in her own little bubble in a way that Sawamura found exceedingly charming. He leaned back in his seat and tapped the eraser of his pencil against his temple as he watched her pass by his house. Considering their interaction only a little more than an hour previous when she hadn't been outgoing in any sense of the word, it surprised him that she was bold enough to be so unhindered in public. Of course, he certainly didn't mind getting such a candid glimpse into her personality, it added fuel to the fire of the curiosity that was stoked within him.

_Didn't she say her mother was picking her up? Maybe something happened... but she seems in good spirits so everything must be okay. Why have I never seen her around school before? Is she new?_

Sawamura let out a quiet laugh before he shook his head and turned back towards his notes to study. Despite having just wrapped up the Spring Interhigh Qualifiers this past weekend, he still had more practice to do and now wasn't the time for distractions...


	2. Chapter 2

Kusaka dug her key out of her messenger bag and unlocked her front door before stepping in and quietly latching it behind her. She brought the strap of her school bag over her head and set it down next to the door with a sigh before slipping her guitar case off her shoulders and leaning it against the wall beside her bag.

Aside from the entryway light, the house was dark. As usual. Her mother worked nights at a local nursing home and after her father passed away a few years ago, her mom was forced to take on an additional part time job to make ends meet. Of course, this meant that she and her mom were rarely ever able to spend time together and during the times they were both home, one was usually due for sleep.

The brunette padded softly into the kitchen, the glare of the digital clock on the stove reminding her that her mom was due to wake up soon. Flicking up the light switch on the wall, Kusaka winced from the change in atmosphere but continued her trek to the fridge to find something to make for her supper and her mother's breakfast.

Grabbing a container of leftover rice along with a few veggies and some chicken, Kusaka hummed to herself and began to dice up the vegetables. After placing the chicken into a pan to cook first, the girl felt the metaphorical blanket of loneliness around her shoulders begin to weigh down on her, the silence of her home quickly taking its toll on her mental health and turning her mood bleak.

Kusaka knew she could simply put in her earbuds if she was uncomfortable with it being so quiet, but that wouldn't change the empty feeling that accompanied it. She'd always wished she'd had a sibling, even if it were an annoying brat she'd be forced to babysit all the time; at least then she wouldn't be so alone.

After frying up the diced vegetables and assembling them and a few eggs into omurice, Kusaka covered a plate for her mother and took hers to the small kitchen table on the opposite side of the fridge. She scrolled through her phone as she ate; no new messages. _Surprise_ , she thought, sarcastically rolling her eyes. _I wonder if mom even remembered..._

The brunette ran a hand through her hair and took a deep breath as she felt tears prick her eyes. Eighteen, and what did she have to show for it? Her grades were good, but not amazing. On Saturday mornings she volunteered at the nursing home her mother worked at, but she wasn't exceptional at any tasks there either. Sure, she played guitar and sang, but she didn't consider it a feasible career choice, just something she did because she found joy in it.

Silent tears fell down her cheeks and she pushed her plate away, folding her arms on the table to rest her forehead atop. Her chest ached as she considered the fact that another birthday was passing her without acknowledgement. She didn't blame anyone though, her mom was always busy trying to provide for them and her friends weren't aware, even if they were, they were all caught up in their first-year university classes and likely would've forgotten as well.

_It's just another day,_ _Suzume_ _. It doesn't matter. It doesn't change anything other than a stupid number._

The girl lifted her head and wiped at her eyes with her sleeves. "Get your shit together, Suz," she mumbled as she stood up and brought her plate to the sink to wash.

Grabbing a sticky note off the magnetic pad on the fridge, the girl wrote her mom a quick message and placed it atop the covered plate before putting it in the fridge.

_Have a good day, Mom._   
_Love you._

Kusaka took soft steps up the stairs and to her room, plopping herself down onto her bed and slipping her nightstand drawer open to grab her well-used and practically tattered lyric notebook. Taking the pen that sat within the spiral metal coils within her fingers, the brunette tapped the end of it on a blank page. On a normal day, simply opening up the notebook was enough to spark the wheels of inspiration but the longer she stared at the lined page tonight, the less inspired she felt.

 _And she hated that_.

Writing and music were the only things that kept Kusaka sane these past few years, and especially since her friends at school had graduated recently, she relied on it even more. Kusaka wouldn't consider herself shy, but she certainly was on the quiet side of introverted. She wasn't the type to speak first or start a conversation with someone she didn't know just for the sake of it, but she wasn't particularly unfriendly. When she started at Karasuno High School, it didn't take her long to become friends with a few second-year students, seeing as they all tried to take advantage of the school's band room during breaks and after classes, quickly bonding over a shared love of music and ultimately forming their own band; Bad Luck Club.

Naturally, with two other band members in university and one working full-time, finding times to practice with everyone proved to be difficult but they all managed to find at least one day a week to get together and jam. Considering that they used to play together every single day after school, this was a big adjustment for everyone, but mostly for Kusaka, who didn't really have much else going on in her life.

The void their unavoidable absences created was one that couldn't be filled by practicing and honing her skills on her own, but she didn't have any other choice. Practice alone at school, or sit at home quietly by herself; those were her options. She had little interest in sports and extracurricular activities like student council sounded nightmarishly dull, so she opted to stay late at school and utilize the music room since she wouldn't be disturbing her mother's rest there.

Small blue dots littered the lined page, each tap of her pen creating a new speckle, a new reminder of the creativity she was lacking at that moment. A soft sigh escaped her lips and she tossed her notebook onto the table, deciding that forcing herself to write wasn't going to produce anything meaningful anyway. She changed into her pyjamas and crawled underneath her navy blue comforter, pulling it all the way up to her chin as she closed her eyes, trying to convince herself that tomorrow would be a better day.

-

During the lunch break the next day, Sawamura found his eyes roaming around the cafeteria, scanning the area for a girl he barely knew as he nodded along to a conversation he wasn't paying any attention to.

"Right, Daichi?" Sugawara questioned, bringing his attention back to the table.

The captain's eyes flickered back over to his friend's and he nodded, not wanting to admit he wasn't listening. "Yeah. Right."

A quiet snicker fell from both Azumane and Sugawara's lips, prompting Sawamura to raise a questioning brow at them. "What?"

"Oh nothing," Azumane waved away his concern with a laugh.

"You just agreed that Hinata was a better receiver than you," Sugawara chuckled. "I'm glad you have such faith in him but I'm a bit concerned with the lack of faith in your own abilities with that comparison."

Sawamura's eyes narrowed slightly at his grey-haired friend, a half-assed attempt at intimidation. "I'm determined Hinata will become a more well-rounded player."

"Oh relax. I'm just messing with you, Daichi," Sugawara smiled, glancing over his shoulder to see what his friend could've been looking at a moment earlier. "What caught your attention?"

"Nothing," he lied, replying way too quickly to be believable.

"Somehow I don't believe you."

"I have to agree," Azumane nodded.

Scratching his cheek, Sawamura quickly folded. Why was he lying, anyway? It's not like he had anything to be ashamed of. "I just wanted to apologize to that girl from yesterday for interrupting her."

"Girl from yesterday?" Azumane tilted his head to the side curiously, wondering what he'd missed.

"Daichi rudely disrupted a music student's practice last night," Sugawara clued his friend in, leaving Azumane to gasp teasingly.

"Daichi interrupted a _practice_?"

"I wasn't rude," Sawamura defended himself. "But I do hate disruptions when we practice, so I wanted to apologize."

"You didn't apologize when you interrupted in the first place?"

"Well, I did bu-"

"But you want an excuse to talk to her again?" Sugawara laughed before turning to his long-haired friend and sighing. "He's growing up so fast."

Sawamura rolled his eyes, fighting back the slight embarrassment he was feeling as he contemplated if it really was just an excuse to see her again. Deciding that it was simply the right thing to do, the male's eyes scanned the cafeteria one final time before he picked up his empty lunch tray and stood from his seat. "I need to grab something from my locker before Math. See you guys in class."

Azumane and Sugawara watched as their friend sped out of the cafeteria and the brunette laughed. "Well, this is a new development."

Sugawara flashed his friend a wide smile before speaking. "It's nice to see him interested in something that's not volleyball, isn't it, Asahi?"

"It is," he rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a bit guilty for second-guessing one of his best friends. "I just hope he doesn't lose focus before Nationals."

"This is Daichi we're talking about," placing a hand on his friend's shoulder, Sugawara's bright smile faded into one more reassuring. "All he's ever wanted was to go to Nationals. I don't think you have anything to worry about."

-

Sawamura shrugged off his military-style school blazer and hung it in his locker before glancing over his shoulder at the music room. Quickly swinging one strap of his backpack over his shoulder, he closed his locker door and walked over to the room - noting the door was closed this time. Peeking through the small window, his eyes landed on a familiar head of brown hair and the resting smile on his lips grew.

A knock on the door startled Kusaka, making her hand slip and loudly strum the sextet of strings as her head popped up to look at the person who now stood in the doorway. "You again," she hummed curiously, her eyes falling upon Sawamura's friendly smile.

"Hi," Sawamura rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly; that wasn't exactly the phrase he was expecting to hear, making it obvious that his presence was likely both unwanted and unnecessary. "I just wanted to apologize for disrupting you yesterday."

The female blinked at him, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she waited for him to continue. "And for disrupting you now," he laughed. "Guess I didn't think that one through, huh?"

The slight upturn of her lips returned his confidence to him and he shut the door behind him before approaching the empty seat across from her and gesturing towards it. "Mind if I sit?"

Kusaka shrugged, company wasn't the worst thing in the world and it wasn't like she wouldn't have time to practice more seriously after school. "Suit yourself."

Now with her approval, Sawamura sat down on the metal folding chair and gestured to the instrument in her hands. "Have you been playing long?"

"A few years," she replied, her fingers moving on their own accord, picking a random melody that she felt matched the chord progression of her other hand.

"That's it? Wow, you seem really good for only a few years of practice."

"I've had some good teachers," Kusaka admitted, thinking of her music teacher here as well as the students and her bandmates she'd learned from the past two years at Karasuno.

Sawamura hummed, his friendly smile one that hadn't gone unnoticed by the young woman before him. "What's your name? You must be new here, I haven't seen you around before."

A light scoff escaped the brunette's lips as she stopped playing, reaching her fret hand over to the amplifier beside her to flick the power switch. She knew she shouldn't be surprised the guy didn't remember her name, but the fact that he thought she was a new student irked her more than she'd like to admit.

Kusaka was used to being lost in the horde of students, but Sawamura really didn't even find her _familiar_ when they had both attended the same middle school _and_ shared multiple classes together at Karasuno? That stung a bit, and today? Well, today she was just still a little emotionally raw from the day before and she had a tougher time shrugging it off than she usually would've.

"Don't worry about it," she muttered, wrapping her patch cord neatly before standing up.

Realizing he'd clearly struck a nerve and assuming it was because he had been impolite, Sawamura quickly stood up as well and spoke. "Sorry, I probably should've started with introductions a lot sooner. I'm Daichi Sawamura."

"I know," she replied plainly, glancing over her shoulder at him as she secured her guitar into its soft case, the expression in her eyes one he couldn't decipher. "We've gone to the same school for seven years."

Sawamura's eyes widened as he felt his stomach drop. _No wonder she was offended_. "...Oh."

"Yeah," Kusaka quietly replied, zipping up her case and slipping her arms within the straps. She just wanted to get away as swiftly as possible, especially knowing that they both shared the same math class next period and she certainly didn't want to walk with him.

"I'm sorry, I-"

"Don't worry about it," she interrupted with an even tone, brisking past him and glancing up at the clock above the door. "Bell's about to ring."

Standing in the middle of the room with a furrowed brow, Sawamura felt a wave of guilt wash over him. No matter how hard he racked his mind in that moment, he still couldn't remember even seeing her before yesterday. She knew his name, but had they really met before?

Letting out a sigh, the male ran a hand through his short brown hair and began to walk to his next class, taking his usual seat at the front row desk closest to the window. Sugawara walked in shortly after and waved to his friend as he closed the distance between them and slipped into his seat beside him.

"So?" His friend prompted with a curious smile. "Find her?"

"You could say that."

Sugawara laughed. "Went that well, huh?"

"Hah, yeah, I-" The brunette paused himself mid-sentence as a familiar form floated into the doorway that was behind Sugawara. _We share a class together?_

His gaze followed her to her seat, middle row center, and after placing her books on top of her desk, her eyes flickered up and inadvertently met with his. Feeling another set of eyes on her, her gaze shifted and met with Sugawara's and he gave her a friendly smile before she returned her attention to her notebook.

The grey-haired boy turned back to face his friend, who was still focused on the brunette, and reached over to flick his forehead. "Stop staring, Daichi."

Sawamura straightened up and faced forward, the lightest shade of pink tinting his cheeks as he felt embarrassed for not only being caught staring, but for not realizing how often they actually were in the same room. He thought he knew the majority of his classmates and it was a bit of a shock to admit to himself that he didn't even recognize someone he's likely seen almost every day for _seven years._

 _ **Shit**_.


	3. I'll Figure It Out, Eventually...

Kusaka's beat-up Fender sat nestled comfortably in its case that evening, despite the fact that she sat in her usual spot in the otherwise mostly empty music room. She glanced up from her notebook and surveyed her surroundings while she racked her brain to find the right words to complete her lyric. Various brass instruments sat in their bulky hardshell cases against the furthest wall in the room, a dated keyboard was positioned beside an array of seats formed into a semi-circle, and on the opposite side, there was her seat beside the amplifier.

While she always enjoyed getting to look over at her peers as they played, her seat off to the side always made her feel like less of a member of the group. Of course, she knew how important every member of the band was and how even lacking one seemingly minor role could change how a song sounded, she always wondered how it felt to be in one of the center seats, surrounded by an entire ensemble. Hell, even Bad Luck Club had never played in a true band formation, it was always just the four of them jumping around like the dumbasses they were, no one had a specific spot they stood in.

Her eyes widened as the word she was searching for revealed itself to her and she quickly scribbled it down, completing her verse and bridge only moments later.

~   
_Life's a tickin' time bomb, sick and tired of trying_  
 _Birthdays just remind me I'm closer to dying_  
 _Life was easier when on the verge of seventeen_  
 _Can't buy alcohol, I'm taking shots of Listerine_  
 _I'll figure it out, eventually_  
 _I can never decide who I should be_  
~

After sprinting a marathon of inspiration in only an additional hour, Kusaka grinned down at her completed lyrics with pride. She'd never turned around a song this quickly and she was thrilled that she was able to channel her frustrations into something significant and now the fun began; the melody.

The brunette looked up at the clock above the wall and hurried toward her guitar case to pull it out and get in a solid twenty minutes of work before the janitor came to boot her out of the room. With a single strum of her freshly tuned Stratocaster, Kusaka felt the weight of the past two days lift from her shoulders; she felt like she could breathe again.

-

"Daichi-san!" Tanaka called out to get his attention as a volleyball was about to smack him right in the head, courtesy of Karasuno's ace.

The brunette's eyes widened as he saw the ball speeding towards him and leaned to the side at the last second to avoid a potential injury, knowing how hard Azumane had been working on slamming the ball lately. Lucky for him, Nishinoya had already noticed his lack of concentration and dived for it, digging the ball up and back into play.

"Nice cover, Nishinoya," Sawamura called out, earning a quick thumbs up from his team's libero. The brunette shook his head to get his wits back about him and get his head back in the game.

After their practice match ended, Sawamura grabbed a bottle of water and took a sip, mentally chiding himself for losing his focus mid-game. A hand slapped the back of his shoulder, causing him to choke on his water and glare half-heartedly at the person that hand belonged to - Nishinoya.

"Lucky I saved your butt out there, Daichi-san," the shorter brunette chuckled smugly. "It's not like you to get distracted."

"I wonder," Sugawara chimed in as he approached the pair, a small smile decorating his face as he knew the pandora's box he was about to open. "Was it because of whatever happened with Kusaka-san today?"

"What? No," Sawamura quickly replied before he realized a vital piece of information was spoken in that sentence. "Wait, _Kusaka-san?_ You know her, Suga?"

"Of course I do," he shrugged. "We had a few classes with her last year too."

Sawamura's lips turned downward with this new information, had he really been that oblivious to those around him? At least now he knew her name...

"Oooh!" Nishinoya cooed, waving over at Tanaka who was chatting with Hinata and Kageyama. "Ryu! Daichi-san has a crush!"

Every head in the room turned towards Sawamura and he facepalmed before groaning in annoyance. "I don't have a crush, I just insulted a classmate unintentionally."

Tanaka dashed over and immediately popped up between Sawamura and Nishinoya, resting his elbow on his shorter teammate's shoulder as he smirked at his captain. "Tell us more about this crush, Daichi-san."

"There's no crush," he shot back, giving a disapproving look to Sugawara for bringing it up in front of everyone; especially these two.

The vice-captain shrugged. "So you were staring at her in class because you _don't_ have a crush on her, Daichi?"

Tanaka glanced down at Nishinoya. "We need to teach him our ways, Noya-san."

"Yes. He's now worthy of learning how to properly speak to a girl," Nishinoya nodded, his expression completely serious.

"I know how to talk to girls," Sawamura retorted. "That's not the issue."

"And if it was, I don't think you two would be his first choice for coaching," Tsukishima pointed out as he walked past to grab his own water bottle, Yamaguchi treading carefully alongside him.

"Then what _is_ the issue, Daichi-san?" Tanaka questioned after shooting Tsukishima a dirty look.

Sawamura looked to Sugawara to save him, only to have his friend chuckle at his misfortune. He sighed before speaking. "I asked her if she was new here."

Nishinoya and Tanaka shared a confused glance before focusing back on their team captain, who then continued. "We've apparently been attending the same schools for years."

The pair pursed their lips as they attempted to hold in their laughter, only breaking once they made eye contact with each other. Both let their heads fall back as they cackled ridiculously at Sawamura's expense.

"It's not that funny!" Sawamura barked, leaving both second-year's to shut their traps and stand up straight a beat later, wiping the tears of laughter from their eyes.

"Be nice, Daichi," Sugawara chimed in with a chuckle. "It's a little funny."

"So just apologize to her or something," Nishinoya shrugged. "I'm sure she'll accept."

Sawamura rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously. "I was already apologizing for something else."

"He interrupted her during a personal practice," Suga filled them in.

" _Daichi-san_ interrupted a practice?" Tanaka gasped, playfully covering his heart with his hand. "Say it isn't so?!"

"The cardinal rule of practices has been broken!" Nishinoya tilted his head back and rested his arm over his eyes. "How could you, Daichi-san!?"

"You two are hopeless," Sawamura sighed, taking a big gulp of water. "I don't know how Shimizu puts up with you."

"At least she does put up with us," the libero retorted, crossing his arms defiantly. "Can't say the same about you and this Kusaka-san."

"Yeah," Tanaka nodded with a smirk. "I bet she's not even close to as pretty as Kiyoko-san."

"Actually, she's qui-" Sawamura caught himself before he was able to get any further. Any compliment towards the girl and how pretty he thought she was would only add fuel to their fire. He began walking towards the door as he replied. "It doesn't matter."

Sugawara, Nishinoya, and Tanaka watched as their captain walked away, his shoulders tense most likely because of the embarrassment he was just dealt. Tanaka let out a long whistle after Sawamura was out the door. "He definitely has a crush."

"He's barely even spoken to her," Sugawara laughed, though he certainly wasn't denying the accusation.

"Do you remember the first time you saw Kiyoko-san?" Nishinoya questioned his classmate, a dreamy look in his eyes as his heart fluttered merely saying her name.

A goofy grin pulled up Tanaka's lips as he nodded, his eyes practically replaced by huge cartoon hearts. "How could I forget the best day of my life, Noya-san? It was the moment I knew angels were real."

The brunette nudged his upper-classman's side. "Only takes a moment to fall for someone special, Suga-san."

-

Deciding that he'd put his foot in his mouth one too many times today for his liking, Sawamura concluded that searching for Kusaka at school this evening wasn't a good idea. In fact, he knew it wasn't because he would once again be interrupting her. It ate away at him that he had offended her and if the tables were turned, he knew he'd have been annoyed as well.

What bothered him even more than knowing that he had probably hurt her feelings was knowing that this was likely now who she thought him to be; someone careless to the people around him. For the sake of his own pride, he needed to find a way to prove to her that that wasn't the type of person he was. He needed to find a way to show her that he was a kind and caring individual who looked out for others, but he had no idea how to do that when he felt it was something he already did on a regular basis in his own way.

What Sawamura didn't know was what Kusaka _actually_ thought of him, which was - at least right now - for the best, because if he had known what her thoughts were after their earlier conversation, he would've felt _much_ worse.

Kusaka didn't think that Sawamura was a bad person at all and she didn't think he was being careless of other's feelings. Kusaka thought that she wasn't worth remembering. Even her own mother forgot about her birthday, so why would someone she's only interacted with enough times she could count on one hand remember anything about her?

Of course it hurt, but she didn't blame him. She wasn't as pretty as the other girls in her class nor as fit, she wasn't particularly funny and she also wasn't exceedingly friendly. She mostly kept to herself and the few friends she did have, not venturing out to create new relationships with others because she had been satisfied with the small group she was a part of. Suzume Kusaka was nothing special and today she'd come to accept that as truth.

To most, that might seem like a bleak conclusion, but Kusaka actually found it kind of liberating. To the musically-inclined brunette, if no one bothered to give her a second thought, she was free to do as she chose without much repercussion. It meant that she could figure out who she wanted to be without having to bend to anyone's expectations of her - because there were none.

This evening as she was walking home, Kusaka felt like she was able to stretch out her wings for the first time, stepping out of the cage she didn't realize she had been placed in. The crisp breeze rustling through the autumn leaves served as her musical accompaniment as she sang to herself on the way to her home, testing out different melodies with the lyrics she had completed earlier that evening.

There was a part of Sawamura that hoped yesterday wasn't a one-off. He hoped that Kusaka often walked past his house on the way to wherever she was going because that sinking feeling in his chest could only feel resolved by two things; seeing that she was okay or hearing her forgive him. He opened his window the moment he arrived home and plunked himself at his desk to study, but he kept peering at the sidewalk periodically.

" _I'll figure it out, eventually_ ," a fluttering voice sang before sighing loudly, the tune catching Sawamura's attention instantly.

He looked out the window to see Kusaka running a hand through her long brown hair, pushing it back before she sang the line again but with a different, more pleasing inflection. He watched as she clasped her hands on her guitar case straps and tossed her head back to smile proudly at the sky. "That's it!"

A firm squeeze of Sawamura's heart quickly replaced the guilty feeling that previously resided there and he couldn't help the smile that crept up his lips as he returned his attention to the notebook in front of him, wondering how he had only just started to notice her now.


	4. A Proper Apology

Sawamura had hustled from the cafeteria to his math class earlier than usual, hoping that maybe Kusaka would be there early too and he could _properly_ apologize. Sugawara humoured his friend and went along with his rushed demeanour, choosing not to question it right away since he had a pretty good idea why his friend was so antsy. 

With his eyes periodically flickering to the door, Sawamura struggled to uphold his end of the conversation with Sugawara, often resorting to _mhmm's_ and _yeah's_ to move things along. If Sugawara wasn't such an understanding person, he probably would've been annoyed by his friend's lack of concentration but he was glad that Sawamura was showing an interest in someone. Well, that and he couldn't help but enjoy the endless opportunities for teasing this created. 

Sugawara actually really liked Kusaka. They'd worked together on a history project last year and once she felt more comfortable around him, her inner goofball began to peek through that aloof façade and they were able to share more laughs than he had anticipated. Seeing his calm and collected best friend fidgeting with anxious energy because of a girl made him smile and he quickly changed the topic of conversation. "I'm sure she'll be receptive to your apology, Daichi." 

"You think?" He questioned, the seed of self-doubt beginning to sprout as he glanced up at Sugawara. "I wouldn't blame her if she didn't." 

"Kusaka-san isn't the type to put too much weight into what people think of her," Sugawara smiled reassuringly. "So I don't think it would've bothered her as much as it might have someone else." 

Sawamura's head shook slightly as he considered the smile he witnessed the evening before, his own lips curling up softly. "I hope you're right, Suga." 

"I am," he grinned, poking his friend’s shoulder. "Now stop doubting yourself, it's weird." 

"I'm not doubting myself, I'm just..." Sawamura rolled his eyes as couldn't find an end to his sentence to prove his point. "Okay, maybe I was. But I'm not now, it was just a _very_ minor moment of weakness." 

" _Riiiight_ ," The grey-haired boy chuckled, glancing over his shoulder at Kusaka's now occupied seat before returning his attention to Sawamura. "Better be quick if you want to talk to her before class starts." 

With widened eyes, Sawamura looked over to Kusaka's seat, surprised that he hadn't noticed her come in while he was talking with his friend. He stood up and weaved his way through the sea of desks between them, admiring her long, flowing hair as it swayed while she dug through her backpack to pull out her books and a pencil. 

Noticing a pair of white sneakers with black accents waltz into her line of vision and stay there while she was leaned over in her seat, Kusaka grabbed the eraser she had been digging in her bag for and placed it on her desk before letting herself look up at the person wanting her attention. A pair of kind brown eyes smiled down at her and she simply blinked at him, waiting to find out what he wanted. 

"Kusaka-san, I-" 

The sound of the door swinging shut cut Sawamura off and his eyes darted towards the entrance, seeing their retirement-bound teacher walking up to the front of the class. Feeling rushed to get out the words he wanted to say, Sawamura tapped his fingers on her desk as he cleared his throat and started over. "Kusaka-san, I'm re-" 

"Sawamura, take your seat," the old man instructed firmly, leaving no room for but's. 

With a quiet, albeit frustrated sigh, the male carded his hand through his short brown hair, giving Kusaka an apologetic smile before retreating to his seat and earning a sympathetic pat on the shoulder from Sugawara. 

While Kusaka wasn't exactly surprised to see Sawamura at her desk that day, she was a bit curious as to what he had to say. And hey, at least he learned her name, right? _That's something..._

\- 

For Sawamura, class passed excruciatingly slowly. His eyes glazed over with each new formula the class was shown and he just couldn't focus. Math was certainly his least favourite class and even on a good day, it took all of his willpower to pay attention to their teacher's monotonous voice. 

With his eyes flickering back to the clock at the front of the classroom every few minutes, the moment the period ended, Sawamura was shoving his books into his backpack haphazardly so he could get to the brunette's desk before she fled the room. He skirted around other classmates as he traced a familiar path to Kusaka's desk, resting his hand on the back of her chair once he was close enough to approach. 

Feeling a presence a bit too close for comfort, the female glanced up at who she could only assume was going to be Sawamura. "Hey," he smiled down at her. "Do you have a sec?" 

"I'm in the music room next so I can't really stay." Picking up the strap of her bag as she stood up from her seat, Kusaka took a step forward to put a bit of space between them. "Sorry." 

"Then can I walk with you?" He questioned promptly, disregarding the fact that his next class was only a few doors down from this one while the music room was a bit of a trek from where they were. 

"Uh, sure," she scratched her cheek while she looked up at him towering above her as he took a step toward her. 

... _has he always been this big?_

"Great!" Sawamura beamed, gesturing with his hand for her to lead the way before following and quickly falling into step beside her once they were in the hallway. 

"So I guess I just wanted to apologize for yesterday," he rubbed the back of his neck as he focused on Kusaka. "That was really inconsiderate of me and I'm going to try harder to know more of my fellow students." 

Kusaka's fingers tightened their grip on her messenger bag's strap across her shoulder. "You couldn't possibly remember everyone, Sawamura-san." 

With a small smile after hearing his name fall from her lips, Sawamura nudged her arm and nodded towards a trio of younger students to their left. "That's Sato, Watanabe, and Nakamura." 

His smile grew as they passed another male from their year and he gave the guy a reserved wave. "Hey, Nakano." 

The student nodded with a smile. "Hey, Sawamura." 

"See," Sawamura shrugged, his pride swelling as his determination shone through. "I could do it." 

The brunette raised an eyebrow at him. "You realize you're just proving you knew everyone else's name and not mine, right?" 

The way his expression paled at the realization was enough to elicit a quiet laugh from Kusaka and she lifted a hand to cover her mouth, hiding her slight smile from him before she could compose herself. 

Though it was brief, the sound of her laugh had Sawamura's heart palpitate and it caught him completely off-guard. He stared at the girl as she cleared her throat and peered up at him. "Step one: remove foot from mouth." 

Sawamura was quick to crack a smile at her joke, letting out a relieved laugh. "And step two?" 

Kusaka shrugged, focusing on the end of the hall where the music room was located. "Be normal?" 

"How do I do that?" He questioned, shifting his backpack more comfortably over his right shoulder as he tried to keep the conversation alive, but more importantly, tried to keep her talking. 

"You're asking the wrong person," the girl smirked to herself. "I can't remember the last time I could've been considered a normal teenager." 

Sawamura hummed. "You seem pretty normal to me, Kusaka-san." 

"That's because you don't know me," she waved away the notion of normalcy with the flick of her wrist as they approached the doorway to the music room. "Well, this is my stop." 

Disappointed that the walk was shorter than he would've liked, Sawamura unintentionally sighed, though his friendly smile was untouched; seemingly a side effect of Kusaka's presence. "I'll see you in class tomorrow." 

Breezing through the door, she looked over her shoulder at him, the smallest curve to her lips sending his heart into a frenzy. "See you, Sawamura-san." 

Running through the hallways with purpose, Sawamura's large hand reached out to grab the cold, metal knob of his English classroom's door just as it was about to shut, gently pushing it open to slip inside before he could be considered tardy. The faculty member gave Sawamura a disapproving frown before nodding over to his empty seat and instructing him to prepare for today's lesson. 

Meeting the curious glance of Azumane as he slipped into the seat behind him, Sawamura playfully wicked away a bead of sweat from his forehead and smiled. "Just in the nick of time." 

"That was a close one," the winged spiker mused. "Everything okay?" 

"Yeah," Sawamura grinned, thoughts of Kusaka's soft smile running rampant through his mind and warming his heart in a way he couldn't get enough of. "Definitely okay." 

\- 

Kusaka's weekday evening routine was rarely ever altered. Each day she'd stay at school as long as possible and avoid her grumbling stomach until she was forced to leave. Then she would go home to cook for herself and her mother before heading to her room to write or do homework. The only time she really saw her mother was weekends because she volunteered on Saturday mornings at the local nursing home where her mom worked.

When Kusaka walked through her front door this evening and the lights were already on, her first thought wasn't that her mother was awake, it was that there was an intruder in the house. She tightened her grip on the straps of her guitar case as she paused, listening for any indication of what was waiting for her. 

A familiar head of frizzy chocolate hair popped out from around the corner, making her heart jumpstart. "Are you just gonna stand there all night or are you gonna come inside?" 

The girl slipped her guitar off her back and leaned it against the wall, scratching her cheek as she followed her mother's retreating figure. "What are you doing up? You should be sleeping." 

"How could I sleep when I realized what a crappy mother I've been," Emiri sighed as she returned to the stove and pushed around the contents of a simmering pan of curry. She was wracked with guilt; what kind of mother forgets her own daughter's birthday? She glanced over at the teenager who was leaning against the refrigerator a foot away, the look of confusion on her face evidence enough that she didn’t understand what was going on. "I'm so sorry I forgot your birthday. I did get you something though. Why don't you open it?”

“Mom,” Suzume sighed as she looked over at the kitchen table, taking note of the small box with a cerulean bow that sat on top of it. “You shouldn’t have gotten me anything. We can’t afford it.” 

Emiri’s eyebrows furrowed as she stared down at the bubbling mixture in front of her. “You’re the kid. You’re not supposed to worry about that stuff.” 

“I worry about you,” Suzume shifted uncomfortably, wrapping her arms around herself. “It’s not healthy for you to work so much.” 

“Today isn’t about me, kiddo. We can have that conversation another time. C’mon,” she nodded toward the table. “Open it.” 

Walking over to the small dinette, Suzume picked up the box and brought it over to her mom to open it in front of her. When she lifted the lid and her eyes landed on a dainty chain linked to a shiny silver guitar pick with her initials engraved into the curve of it, her lips curled upward. 

"It's perfect, mom," she let out a long breath as she tried to release some of the guilt she was feeling, knowing that her mother had spent money on her unnecessarily. "You didn't have to..." 

Rolling her eyes, Emiri swatted the top of her daughter's head. "Oh, stop that worrying." 

Suzume rubbed the top of her head as she glared carelessly. "Rude." 

"You had it coming," the older brunette chuckled. "So, other than your mom being a jerk, how'd your birthday go?" 

"It was fine," she fibbed, fiddling with the clasp of the necklace while placing it around her neck. "Nothing too exciting." 

"Aw. I hope you had fun with your friends at least," Emiri hummed. "Did Nakano or Endo get you anything?" 

"Pft," the girl scoffed. "Those two nitwits? No way the thought would even cross their minds." 

"Then where does that leave Hasegawa?" 

"Hiroki's lumped in with the rest of them." 

" _Hiroki_?" A smirk crossed her mother's lips as she looked over at her daughter. "You two are getting closer then, hmm?" 

Suzume shook her head slightly as her eyes rolled. "Not really, he just asked us to start using his given name because he thinks it sounds cooler," her hand landed on her mom's shoulder as she continued. "He wanted us all to call him _Roki_ because he thought it'd really help the bad boy image he wanted to project." 

"That's definitely a stretch," Emiri tittered, thinking of the lanky nineteen-year-old drummer. 

"Right?!" The brunette chuckled. "It's like he thinks that no one will figure out he's a huge nerd." 

"Those boys are quite a handful, Suz," the mother glanced over. "I don't know how you keep them in line." 

"I don't," Suzume shrugged. "Where's the fun in that?" 

Emiri shook her head with a laugh. "Somehow, I'm not surprised you enjoy their shenanigans." 

Turning off the store, Emiri motioned to a cupboard, indicating her daughter to get down plates for them. "Anything else noteworthy going on?" 

"I finished two more songs. Well, the basics of them at least. The guys and I will have to figure out the framework and make em tight," a smile pulled up her lips. "But I'm really excited to show them what I've come up with." 

"That's great, kiddo," Emiri plated up their food and passed a plate back to her daughter. "So when do I get to hear it?" 

"When it's ready," Suzume chuckled, elbowing her side as they walked to the table. "Be patient!" 

"Patient? Me? You know better than that," the older brunette elbowed her daughter right back. "Play them for me after we eat?" 

"You sure you wanna hear them? I mean, they're probably shit." 

"Of course I want to hear them," Emiri smirked at her daughter as she sat down. "After I wash your mouth out with soap for cursing in front of me." 

A dismissive roll of Suzume's eyes was all the response given, but as they began to eat their dinner, both mother and daughter had the same thought. 

_I missed this_.


	5. Okay, maybe it's a crush...

Sawamura had never been particularly fond of Math and he certainly was never in a rush to get to that classroom after lunch. Well, that was true until earlier this week when he discovered that Kusaka was also in that class. 

"Daichi," Sugawara smiled knowingly as his friend had shovelled down his lunch faster than usual that day. "Kusaka-san isn't going to be early to class. Racing there won't get you more time to stare at her." 

"I'm not going to stare at her," Sawamura rolled his eyes. "I just want to review my notes from yesterday." 

Sugawara and Azumane exchanged a knowing look before the former's eyes crinkled up as he leaned over and poked Sawamura's side. "You always study at home, Daichi. Is there something you're having trouble grasping?" 

"No," he shrugged, hardly even believing himself. "I just want to make sure I'm prepared for today." 

"Prepared to see your girl maybe," Azumane teased. "You're never anxious about school." 

Narrowed eyes glared impassively, sending a shiver down Azumane's spine despite trying to ignore his friend's weak disapproval. "She's not my girl." 

"But you want her to be," the grey-haired boy chirped with a quiet laugh. "No use denying it, Daichi." 

Fighting against the warmth he felt rising to his cheeks, Sawamura grumbled. "I hardly know her." 

"For now," Azumane smiled wistfully, propping his elbow on the table and resting his chin in his palm as he hoped one day someone would catch his eye this way. 

The team captain stared down at his empty tray for a moment; was it so bad to think that he might actually have a crush? Sure, he thought Kusaka was pretty, he had _eyes_ , but that didn't mean anything, right? Just like his newfound curiosity didn't mean anything, she was an enigma to him so of course he wanted to figure her out. And well, after insulting her, he simply wanted to make things right and be friends...just like he would with anyone else. 

Shaking his head as if to clear the etch-a-sketch of his mind into a blank slate, Sawamura let out a faint chuckle. Why was he letting his friends get into his head like that? They're only teasing him. "Wanting to befriend someone doesn't mean there are feelings involved," he pointed out, standing up as he grabbed his tray. "I do want to look over my notes though, so I'll see you guys later." 

Sawamura's feet moved on their own accord, bringing him to his locker rather than the classroom that he had intended to go to. Even with the music room door closed, Sawamura could hear the smooth notes that resonated from an electric guitar and as he slid his black uniform jacket off his shoulders, his lips curled up. She really was dedicated, wasn't she? 

Lingering as he took his time hanging his jacket on the hook in his locker, the brunette's chest began to warm with thoughts of the first time he'd seen her play and he wondered if she looked just as concentrated right now as she had that day. 

Sawamura headed to class with a resting smile on his face while he absent-mindedly meandered through Karasuno's halls before seating himself at his desk with his notebook flipped open. Periodically glancing at the door, Sawamura felt his heart beat faster when a familiar brunette walked into his line of sight. His grip tightened on his pen and he looked back down at his notes, unable to ignore his racing pulse. 

_It's not a crush, it's curiosity, he lied to himself. And I'm just curious because I don't know her_. 

His eyes flickered back to Kusaka's seat and as she softly tucked her poker-straight hair behind her ears, her gaze wandered the room and met his. The female raised a questioning eyebrow at him and he quickly slapped a sheepish smile on his face and gave a small wave before diverting his attention back to the paper in front of him, flustered that he'd been caught looking at her. 

_Okay_ , he thought, examining the flutter of his stomach. _Maybe it's a crush._

Sugawara had walked in at the most opportune time, chuckling at his luck as he watched his confident friend become reduced to a ball of nerves just from one glance. What he didn't anticipate seeing, however, was the smallest smile that graced Kusaka's lips only once Sawamura looked away, instilling in him hope that his friend hadn't completely lost his chance at winning her over. 

\- 

Shoving his books into his backpack at an inhuman pace, Sawamura slung his bag over his shoulder and made a beeline for Kusaka's desk. She looked up at him as she closed her books, confused as to why he was there. "Do you need something, Sawamura-san?" 

Hearing her say his name still made his heart palpitate and though he didn't understand why something so normal would do that, he didn't have time to question it. The charming smile Sawamura was able to muster was directed straight at her as he explained, "I have to grab something from my locker and it's right by the music room. I figured since you're going the same way that we could walk together?" 

The girl shrugged and placed her books in her messenger bag before standing up and hanging it on top of her shoulder. Once in the hall, Sawamura fell into step beside her and for the first time in what felt like forever, he didn't know what to say. He wasn't normally someone who had trouble conversing with others, but he was a bit worried about saying the wrong thing yet again and he had no idea what was a safe topic of discussion. 

Glancing up at Sawamura, Kusaka couldn't help but notice his clenched jaw and tense posture. "You don't have to walk with me if I make you uncomfortable," she offered nonchalantly. "You're not obligated just because we're going the same direction." 

"What?" His eyes flitted to hers and his head tilted to the side. "I'm not uncomfortable." 

"You look like you're walking beside the vice-principal," Kusaka pointed out. 

Sawamura's forehead wrinkled for a moment before he ran a hand through his hair to try and relax. Why couldn't he just act natural? Why did he have to keep overanalyzing his every thought? "Sorry," he laughed awkwardly. "I just don't want to put my foot in my mouth like last time." 

"Oh," she nodded, her attention on the tiled floor beneath them. "Don't worry about it." 

"Right," he scratched his cheek. "So...you have band next?" 

"Mhmm." 

"Cool..." He trailed off, his hesitant tone indicating he was still feeling uneasy, though internally he was kicking himself. _Keep your head in the game, Daichi!_

Kusaka snuck another look at the volleyball captain, and although she found his unusual loss for words amusing, she figured she would throw him a bone. "What about you?" 

With livening brown eyes, Sawamura smiled down at her, relief evident as his shoulders loosened. "English. Other than Phys. Ed it's probably my favourite subject." 

"With Ito-sensei?" 

"Yep," he smiled. "Do you have English with him too?" 

"No," she shook her head. "But isn't that kinda far? Aren't you going to be late?" 

Sawamura shrugged. "I made it on time yesterday, so I should be alright." 

The female's eyes flickered up to the clock above a doorway they were passing before she looked up at him. "There's no way you're going to make it there in four minutes, Sawamura-san. Whatever you forgot in your locker isn't worth getting scolded over." 

"Four minutes?" He hummed, noting that they were coming close to the music room. "I can make it there in two if I run." 

Kusaka stopped dead in her tracks and looked at Sawamura with a straight face. "There's no running in the hallways, Sawamura-san. That's against the rules." 

"What about jogging?" 

"That's a grey area," she reasoned, her fingers finding their way to her messenger bag strap. "But probably still against the rules." 

"Then I'll have to take my chances," Sawamura smiled. 

"I didn't realize you were such a troublemaker, Sawamura-san," Kusaka teased. "My mom probably wouldn't want me to hang out with a bad influence." 

"Moms love me, don't even worry about that," he let out a soft chuckle before realizing what he said could have been misconstrued in many ways. "Not that I've met many girl's mothers, because I haven't. Er, well, just my friends. I-" 

"Three minutes," Kusaka interrupted him and he grimaced, his eyes flickering over to the clock she had just glanced at. 

"I gotta go," he waved, turning tail and beginning to jog down the hall. 

Kusaka turned and watched as he jogged away, only to be reminded of something a few seconds later. "You forgot to go to your locker, Sawamura-san," she called out. 

Sawamura looked over his shoulder at the brunette and grinned as he kept his pace. "It wasn't important anyway!" 

Just as he turned his head to face forward once again, Sawamura's eyes widened at the exact moment that he foolishly collided with a row of lockers. Kusaka cringed at the sight, "Are you okay?" 

"I'm fine," he rubbed his forehead, his cheeks now tinged with a mortified blush as he made eye contact with the girl. "Sorry to worry you, Kusaka-san, but I've really got to get going." 

Without a second thought, Sawamura was out of sight and racing to class, leaving Kusaka standing in the hallway, quietly laughing at the absurdity of their interaction. 

After settling into her seat in class, her Fender perched on her thigh, Kusaka began to pick the melody she had workshopped for her most recent song. The cacophony of clashing brass and wind instruments warming up were nearly impossible to ignore, but somehow she managed. As the brunette strummed through her song, it didn't sound as pleasing to her as it did the first time she worked on it and she couldn't pinpoint what it was that was off. 

With a sigh, Kusaka glanced up from her guitar and searched the room for her teacher, only to find him flipping through a large coiled book of sheet music. Placing her guitar on the stand beside her, she rose from her seat and approached. "Arimoto-sensei?" 

The teacher, a man in his early thirties with bright green eyes and muddy brown hair, looked up at her. "Kusaka-san," he acknowledged. "Have you broken a string?" 

"No," she shook her head. "I was just working on a song to warm up but it doesn't sound right anymore and I don't know why," the girl scratched her cheek. "I normally would ask the guys for advice but since they started University it's kinda hard to get a hold of them...would you mind giving your opinion?" 

While Kusaka was typically introverted in class, over the past three years, he'd helped out her bandmates on many occasions and grown to know her as more than the quiet girl who played rhythm guitar in band. In fact, she and her ragtag group of friends were quite amusing to Arimoto and reminded him of his own group in high school. He enjoyed getting to sit in on a few of their practices and see them grow, but he didn't anticipate how much more introverted Kusaka was going to become once her three close friends graduated. 

Over the past few months, it had become clear to Arimoto that Kusaka wasn't the same person he knew her to be the year before. She kept to herself more than usual and spent every spare minute she could in this room – locking herself away from everyone else. While the teacher didn't mind the girl's presence as she was always courteous enough to pick up after herself, he didn't think it particularly healthy for her to be spending so much time alone but until this moment, he didn’t know how to address his concerns with her and help her form new friendships. 

Arimoto gave his student a friendly smile. Despite her growing introversion, she felt comfortable enough with him as a teacher to ask for his help and he was glad for that. "I imagine you'll be here tomorrow during lunch period, correct?" 

The girl nodded in response and he continued. "Great. I'm afraid I have a previous commitment, but I do know of someone who has an ear for this kind of thing and I think they'd be a great help to you. I'll get them to meet with you here tomorrow, alright?" 

"Oh," she rubbed the back of her neck. "I don't want to be a burden. That's alright, I'll just keep practicing until I figure it out." 

"Don't be silly, Kusaka-san," he smiled. "Asking for help doesn't make you a burden. In fact, I'm glad you did, it'll be a great learning experience! Now go take your seat," he nodded towards the percussionist at the back of the room with a smirk. "I can see Chida-kun getting antsy and I'd prefer to avoid his egregious showboating." 

"I swear it's like he thinks the louder he crashes the symbols together the bigger girls will think his d-" 

"Stop," he cringed, though slightly relieved to see she still had her humour. "Go sit down and prepare." 

A quiet laugh escaped from the girl as she walked back to her seat and positioned her instrument back in her lap to prepare for today's practice. 

\- 

The following day, Kusaka hurried to the music room after her last morning class, eager to get to work on her song with whoever Arimoto had deemed helpful enough for the task. First in the room, the brunette set up her guitar and pulled out her favourite guitar pick, warming up with a pentatonic scale that soon turned into a blues riff that carried her away. 

It was only when she heard the scrape of a chair being pulled in position to sit across from her that she noticed someone else's presence and looked up from her fretboard. A tall blond male with golden-brown eyes plunked himself down in the seat, his white Somy headphones still softly playing music as they hung around his neck. 

Kusaka's fingers continued to move on their own accord as she gave him a nod of acknowledgment. He slipped his phone from his pocket, turning off his music as he assessed the girl in front of him, her skill obvious and making him wonder why he had been sent here in the first place when he wasn’t even a musician himself. 

"Um, hey," the brunette greeted. "I'm Suzume Kusaka. I'm guessing you're the one that Arimoto-sensei asked to give me a hand?" 

_Kusaka_? He'd heard that name before and it only took all of three seconds for it to click in. This was the girl the third-years on the volleyball team had been talking about all week. "Kei Tsukishima," he confirmed. 

"Did he give you any context?" She wondered. 

"It was either help you today at lunch or end up in detention for interrupting class," Tsukishima crossed his arms in front of his chest as he stared her down. 

"Well, I hope this ends up being better than detention I guess." 

"So far it's not." 

A small smile cracked Kusaka's composed façade and she rolled her eyes. "Long story short, I asked Arimoto-sensei to help me figure out where the problem lies with the melody. He's passed the buck to you now, so do you mind taking a listen?" 

The blond shrugged and the brunette took that as a yes and began to pluck the pattern she'd been working on. Once she'd gotten through the first verse and the chorus, she looked up at Tsukishima. "Something is off, right?" 

"That's the song?" 

"Well, that's the lead guitar riff," she hummed, fiddling with the cherry red pick in her hand. "I have lyrics but those I'm not really concerned about." 

"You're not the sharpest tool in the shed, are you?" He mused while waiting for her to get angry with him and storm out, leaving him with his duty done and a free lunch period. 

"Alright, alright," she waved away his insult much to his disappointment. "You're right. Shoulda given you the entirety of what I have so far." 

Beginning again, Kusaka timed her vocals with the guitar and sang without restraint. Due to her seemingly reserved nature, Tsukishima was a bit surprised to hear her voice sing out purposefully and clear rather than meek and insecure as he had anticipated. Hearing both aspects of the song together, he could understand the disconnect she was hearing and when she wrapped up the first playthrough of the chorus, she stopped playing and looked at him expectantly. 

"I think my ears are bleeding," he quipped. 

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, string bean," Kusaka let his insult roll off of her like water off a duck's back, the ability to do so a benefit of having spent the past three years playing in a band with a trio of teenage boys. "So what was the problem?" 

A smirk pulled up Tsukishima's lips and he leaned back in the uncomfortable metal chair. "Your timing sucks and you need to move up an octave." 

"For both vocals and guitar?" 

His shoulders lifted up and down lazily. "Aren't you the musician here? You figure it out." 

"I feel pretty comfortable with where the vocals are at...if I moved up an octave it'd be too high in the chorus," Kusaka considered her options aloud and adjusted her hand's position on the fretboard, picking the notes one by one slowly to familiarize herself before repeating the first verse and chorus again. 

When she looked back up at Tsukishima, he raised an eyebrow at her though he could tell by the spark in her eye that she had figured out what he meant. "Well?" 

"You were right," she acknowledged. "That definitely sounded better." 

"Of course I was right," he agreed. "Don't forget about your shit timing though." 

"It'll fall into place better with Hasegawa and Endo. I probably rely on them too much though..." 

Tsukishima let out a judgmental hum and Kusaka scratched her cheek. "They're just so busy now with school an-," the brunette shook her head with a quiet laugh. "Why am I saying this out loud, you don't care." 

"You're right, I don't." 

Amused with his _I don't give a fuck_ persona, Kusaka found herself feeling relatively at ease in his presence. "You're just a ball of sunshine, aren't you, Tsukishima-san?" 

"Don't forget your sunglasses next time, Kusaka-san." 

"I'll keep a pair in my bag for easy access," she quipped back before nodding towards the door. "Thanks for your help. I'm sure you've got somewhere else you'd rather be, don't worry, I won't spill the beans." 

"Kicking me out already? Gee, and here I thought we were becoming best friends," Tsukishima rose from his seat and pulled his phone out of his pocket to turn back on his music before slipping his headphones over his ears. Not bothering to turn back, the blond raised a hand as a goodbye and meandered to the cafeteria to find Yamaguchi. 

With a roll of her eyes, Kusaka began to play the song again with the octave adjustment Tsukishima had suggested and when she finished the song the entire way through – she did it again. And again, now aiming to get her timing down, not caring to notice that the first year hadn't bothered to close the door behind him. 

Sugawara and Azumane joined Sawamura as he headed to his locker after finishing his lunch, though the three fell silent as they neared their destination. Hearing Kusaka singing once again brightened Sawamura's resting smile into a wider one and without thought, the trio ended up in the doorway to the music room to catch the end of her performance. 

Kusaka played her outro and took a deep breath before grinning down at her fretboard, proud that she was finally able to sync up properly. It wasn't until Azumane started clapping that she realized anyone was there and her head snapped up towards the sound, her smile falling as she saw her three peers watching her. 

Sugawara nudged his friend's side. "Read the room, Asahi," he whispered jokingly. 

Azumane's eyes widened and he stopped clapping, his cheeks blooming with a blush as he grimaced. "Sorry! I didn't mean to disrupt, I-I just thought you did a great job." 

"Uh, thanks," she scratched her cheek before she looked down at her guitar and turned the volume knob down before repeating the process on her amp and flicking it off. Wrapping up her patch cord into a tight circle, Kusaka continued her routine and placed her guitar back into its softshell case and zipped it up. When she turned back towards the door and saw her classmates still there, Kusaka began to feel uneasy. Why were they still there? 

"Sorry, someone forgot to shut the door and I didn't notice." 

"You were practicing with someone?" Sawamura questioned, hoping to open up a conversation. 

"I needed a second opinion," she shrugged, glancing over his shoulder before meeting his gaze. "I've got to get going..." 

"Oh. Suga and I are headed to Math too if you'd like to walk with us," he smiled. 

"Thanks, but I've got to stop at my locker and drop this off." 

"Daichi," Sugawara smiled at his friend. "I think I left my jacket in my locker. Why don't you take a detour with Kusaka-san and I'll see you guys in class?" 

Not computing a conflicting flaw in Sugawara's plan, Sawamura was quick to jump on the idea, grateful to his friend for giving him another opportunity to talk with her. "Sounds good to me." 

Kusaka's eyebrows furrowed momentarily but she shrugged, whatever worked – she just needed to get to her locker. "Alright." 

"Perfect," Sugawara cheered, hastily grabbing Azumane's elbow and dragging him away. "See you!" 

Sawamura chuckled as he glanced over his shoulder at Sugawara before bringing his full attention to the woman in front of him. "Sorry about all that." 

"It's okay," she replied, exiting the room and turning the opposite way down the hall. 

"Do you think-" 

"So what did -" 

An awkward laugh was shared between the pair as they both started and stopped talking at the same time. Sawamura leaned to the side and bumped her shoulder playfully. "You go first." 

Rubbing the back of her neck, Kusaka looked up at Sawamura. "Do you think Sugawara-san is okay?" 

"Suga?" He questioned. "Of course, why do you ask?" 

“Well,” she gripped the guitar case straps on her shoulders before continuing. "He was already wearing his jacket." 


	6. Because you're a fool

"Mhmm," Kusaka boredly hummed as her peer, a talkative blonde named Maeda, raved about her crush while putting away linens during their Saturday morning volunteer shift. 

"And last time, he even smiled up at me from the court after his service ace! That's gotta mean _something_ , right? I mean, Oikawa doesn't just single girls out like that." 

"Mhmm," Kusaka repeated, knowing not by what was said but simply by the inflection of Maeda's voice that a response was required. It was much too early for her to pretend to care about some inane crush the girl had on some hot shot volleyball player from Aoba Johsai. 

Moving their cart to the next resident's room in the nursing home, Kusaka's gaze fell upon that belonging to the elderly man occupying an arm chair beside the window. She gave him a nod of acknowledgment before pulling open the door to the small closet and began to load up the freshly washed sheets onto their shelf. 

The man watched with amusement as Maeda yammered on about a boy and didn't even care that Kusaka was so disinterested in the conversation that she hadn't even replied with a real sentence. As the girl continued to yap about Seijoh's pretty setter, the old man repositioned himself more comfortably in his chair and tried to gain Kusaka's attention with a classic, " _Psst_." 

Glancing over at the man, he smiled and nodded towards her fellow volunteer. "Do you ever get any peace and quiet?" 

Kusaka shook her head. "What's peace and quiet?" 

The sound of her voice brought Maeda's head out of the clouds and she looked towards the elderly man with her head tilted to the side. The man's smile turned into a smirk as he continued to address Kusaka. "Teenage girls never shut up, what's got you so quiet?" 

"She's just weird, don't mind her, sir," Maeda shrugged with a laugh, answering for her. "One day I swear it will be like a switch is flicked on and she just won't stop." 

Kusaka looked at the man and shook her head side to side. "That won't happen." 

Maeda swatted her shoulder. "Oh, one day!" 

"Doubtful." 

"Just you wait and see, 'Saka-chan. I rue the day!" 

"I don't think you know what that means," Kusaka pointed out, motioning with her hand for the girl to pass her a small stack of stark white towels to put away. 

"Well, I," Maeda scratched her cheek. "Uh, yeah I do." 

Kusaka raised an eyebrow, unconvinced that the blonde actually did. "Really?" 

"Yes," Maeda placed her hands on her hips confidently. "I do." 

Glancing over at the elderly gentleman, the brunette caught sight of his eyes brightening and assumed he was finding their bickering entertaining. When he motioned with his hand for her to continue egging her on, she knew she was right and figured she might as well give the old man something to laugh about later. "Use it in a sentence then." 

"I already did!" 

Kusaka shrugged. "Use it in another." 

Wrinkled skin crinkled further under his eyes while the man chuckled, enjoying watching Maeda squirm as she tried to flub her way through her obvious lie. 

"I-" 

" _Kusaka-san?"_

Turning her head towards her name incredulously spoken by a familiar voice, her eyes landed upon the kind ones that belonged to Sawamura. "What are you doing here?" He questioned, glancing back at his grandfather as his heart raced. He certainly wasn't expecting to see her here. 

Kusaka looked down at the large badge pinned to her black t-shirt that read 'VOLUNTEER' in a bold firetruck red font before she peered back up at the male. Rubbing the back of his neck, Sawamura chuckled awkwardly. "Dumb question, huh?" 

"Daichi," the elder called out, noticing his grandson's unusual sheepishness. "Are you acquainted with these two?" 

"Only Kusaka-san," Sawamura smiled. "We go to the same school." 

"Oh, then perhaps you can tell me if she's always this quiet or if it's just because she can't get a word in with this little chatty one, hmm?" 

"I have a feeling she's not as quiet as she leads us to believe, Jii-chan," Sawamura crossed his arms over his chest as he spoke, the way his biceps flexed as he did so catching Maeda's eye. "She's quite the musician." 

A bushy grey eyebrow raised at his grandson. "Oh? So perhaps the chatty one was right." 

"Yeah!" Maeda smiled smugly, though her thoughts were mainly hormonally occupied by the five foot nine hunk in front of her. 

"I'm not sure yet," Sawamura smiled, bringing his attention back to his crush as his gaze softened. "But I hope to find out." 

"I bet you do," the grandfather mused, his lips pulling to the side in a knowing smirk. " _Kusaka-san_ ," he mimicked the way his grandson said her name in a playful tone. "Do you volunteer here often? It's only been a few weeks since I've been in this home and my memory simply isn't what it used to be." 

"Yes," she nodded. Kusaka glanced at the clock above the wall before bringing her attention back to the old man as she closed the closet door. "I actually don't have a lot of time left and we still have ten more rooms to visit so we should stop being a bother and leave you two to your visit." 

"You're not interrupting," Sawamura quickly chimed in, the idea of getting to spend time with her outside of school a tempting one that he couldn't help but jump at. "You can come back after your shift is over if you'd like. I could walk you home." 

"I have plans, but thanks anyway, Sawamura-san." Kusaka gave the pair a wave before meeting Maeda's curious look and nodding towards the door. 

After both girls had left the room, the elder Sawamura grinned at his grandson. " _I'll walk you home, Kusaka-saaaaan_ ," he teased in a high pitched voice, not realizing that they would still be in hearing range. 

Amused with the dynamic between the two Sawamura's, Kusaka found a small smile tug her lips up as she and Maeda moved on to the next room. Once inside, the blonde leaned over and elbowed the brunette while she began to pile items in the linen closet. "He's so hot! Why did you say no, 'Saka-chan?" 

"I'm busy after this," she shrugged. 

"So what?" Maeda's eyes glazed over as she thought of the way Sawamura's plain white T-shirt hugged his muscular arms. "Cancel! I'm sure your other plans can wait." 

"I'm not just going to drop my previous commitments to hang out with someone I barely know on a moment's notice," Kusaka rolled her eyes. 

"Do you even have _eyes_?" The girl giggled. "He's so handsome! Did you see how big his hands are, too? What I wouldn't give to have a set of hands like that on me." 

"Then go ask him to walk you home, Maeda-san." 

"Oh, I couldn't," she blushed at the thought. "He'd never be interested in me anyway...unless...would you mind asking him for me?" 

With a flat expression, Kusaka looked at the girl. "No." 

"What?! Why?" She cried out dramatically before pouting. "I thought you weren't interested." 

"Doesn't mean I want to get involved in your personal life," Kusaka pointed out as she closed the closet door. "So I'll pass." 

"Saka-chaaaaaan," Maeda whined, making her eyes as wide as saucers. "Please, please, pleaaaaase?" 

"No." 

Maeda tossed a small folded washcloth at her face. "Come on." 

Kusaka's features stayed unaffected as the cloth fell into her hands, merely folding it back up as she added, "Still no." 

" _Oh_ ," Maeda smiled slyly. "You're just playing hard to get, aren't you?" 

"I'm not playing anything," the brunette rolled her eyes and placed the last of the linens into the closet. "I have plans after we're done here." 

"Nah," the blonde smirked. "You're definitely up to something. How could you not be interested in him? Have you even seen him play volleyball?" 

"Nope." 

"When I watched their match with my school, it was hard not to notice that he's got this intense presence on the court... it's like that nice guy vibe vanishes." 

Kusaka shrugged uninterestedly as she pushed the cart into the hallway and Maeda had finally had enough. "Fine, fine. If you're not interested in him, then prove it. Put in a good word for me." 

"Bold of you to assume I have a good word to put in for you." 

"Oh shut it. Deny it all you want, I know you like me," Maeda tossed a lock of hair over her shoulder confidently before giving the brunette a small push. "Now go." 

Despite finding her annoying, Maeda was right; Kusaka did like her. Sure, she was boycrazy and talked too much, but she meant well and the brunette knew her to be a good person. She also knew that Maeda would never stop teasing her about Sawamura unless she did as she asked, which is why she found herself poking her head into the elderly man's room moments later. 

A quick knock at the door grabbed both Sawamura's attention and when Daichi's eyes landed on hers, a wide grin spread across his lips. "Change of plans?" 

"No, actually," Kusaka scratched her cheek, feeling awkward as she wracked her brain to find the right words. "I just thought that you might want to extend your offer to Maeda-san. You two would probably get along since you're both, um, friendly." 

Seeing the girl before him shift uncomfortably left Daichi feeling perplexed, but he _also_ couldn't help but find it quite cute to see her as the less confident of the two of them. He patted his grandfather's shoulder before walking over to where the girl stood. 

With a confidence that burned inside him at the mere thought that perhaps she was being awkward with him for the same reason _he_ had been flustered around her this past week, his grin fell into a seductive smirk and his eyes locked onto hers. "That's kind of you to suggest, Kusaka-san, but if I'm being honest," he boldly reached out and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "I prefer brunettes." 

A ballet slipper blush rose to Kusaka's cheeks as her eyes widened while she looked at him in surprise, her stomach fluttering with the wings of a thousand butterflies. "O-oh. O-okay, bye." she sputtered her reply, turning tail immediately after the words left her lips, wondering what the hell just happened. 

"Jeez. You could've gone easy on the poor girl, Daichi," the old man mused as he leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest. 

Wincing at his grandfather's words, Daichi rubbed the back of his neck and began to return to his previous seat. "Too much?" 

The elder shrugged his shoulders. "Not if you wanted to scare her away forever." 

"Not funny, Ojiisan," Daichi sighed, flopping down into his seat defeatedly. 

"Oh, cheer up. You'll get her one day." 

"You think?" 

"No," the grey-haired man laughed at his grandson's expense. "You just earned yourself a month's worth of uncomfortable interactions with that move, Daichi. I thought you said you hardly knew her?" 

The brunette tossed his head back with a groan. "Why do I keep doing the wrong thing?" 

"Because you're a fool." 

Narrowing his eyes at the man in front of him only to be met with a gaze daring to be corrected, Daichi pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm so screwed." 


	7. Embers of jealousy

"Okay, so what did you think?"

"Meh," Nakano shrugged. "Needs work."

"Well, obviously," Kusaka rolled her eyes. "Have any suggestions?"

"It needs more...how do I say it..." Hasegawa moved his arms dramatically in a drumming motion and Endo shoved his shoulder.

"You're such a dumbass," the bassist groaned at the drummer before looking back to the brunette who stood in front of them, her guitar held around her with a frayed black second-hand strap. "That was great, 'Saka. Where do you see it going from here?"

"I think it definitely needs more," she let her Fender dangle as she mocked Hasegawa by flailing her arms, earning a laugh from everyone except the target of her teasing who pouted. "But I think it might be better sped up with a good backbone. What do you think?"

"I'm always up for a solid bass riff," Endo mused, running a hand through his short blond hair. "And I agree with the tempo adjustment."

"Ditto," Nakano nodded. "I dig that 90's indie vibe for the verses but the bridge needs to be fleshed out more. It's too simple."

Kusaka lifted her guitar strap up and over her head as she took a seat on the beat-up thrift-store couch that Endo was seated on, positioning herself at an angle so she could still see the two sprawled out on the matching sofa perpendicular to them. She turned down the volume knob on her instrument before plucking the opening of the song again. Stopping after a few bars, she looked up at Nakano for feedback.

"Faster," he commented.

The girl repeated the same bars a bit faster before peering back up, only to see the other guitarist shake his head side to side. "Faster."

With a roll of her eyes, Kusaka once again repeated the same melody but at a slightly faster pace than the previous time. When her eyes met with Nakano's bright blue ones she immediately frowned – his blank stare was enough. Repeating the musical phrase at a faster pace for the third time only to be met with the same response frustrated Kusaka and she let out an annoyed groan. "Set the pace then, you jerk."

Cracking a smile, Nakano shrugged. "I'm just fucking with ya, the last one was perfect." Tapping his hand on his thigh to the pace that she had set, he continued. "I can get with this."

Tossing her cherry red Dunlop plectrum at the shaggy-haired guitarist, Kusaka called out her reply. "Your turn, jackass."

Placing a hand over his heart, Nakano feigned offence. "That hurts, Zume-chan. You should be more careful with your words."

"Don't call me that," she blinked.

"I'll call you whatever I want," he smirked. " _Zume-chan_."

"I swear to fu-"

A heavy hand plonked atop Kusaka's head and ruffled her hair, interrupting her blooming dispute. A frown pulled down her lips as she turned her attention to Endo and swatted him away. "Staaahp."

"You two need to stop bickering so much," he instructed. "Just because you play the same instrument doesn't mean you're in competition with each other all the time."

"We're not competing because we all know I'm better," Nakano shrugged, knowing full well he was purely poking the proverbial bear because if he was being honest with himself – he missed this. He missed _her._ Going from spending almost every evening together jamming with the band to only once a week – if that – was hard on everyone, not only Kusaka. But for Nakano? Well, it was more difficult than he anticipated because it brought up feelings that he hadn't realized he felt until the deafening silence of her absence in his daily life became too obvious for him to ignore.

At first, when the crew was adjusting to their new norm, Nakano figured that the empty feeling in his chest was merely because he had to significantly decrease the amount of time he was spending with his bandmates in order to keep up with his studies. Each time they got together, that empty feeling vanished, replaced with satisfied contentment that slowly dissipated in the days that followed.

When Kusaka couldn't make it to a jam session, that empty feeling in the guitarist's chest didn't go away, it only gnawed at him more. He wanted to see her. To tease her and joke with her, to watch her get annoyed and give him that glare that he found so amusing. He wanted to listen to her sing and watch her play guitar like he used to every day and now that he couldn't experience any of those things on a more regular basis, he craved it.

Kusaka's eyes narrowed at his comment, she _hated_ feeling inferior - especially to someone as cocky as Nakano. "You son of a b-"

"Hey, now," Hasegawa piped up from his slouched over position, looking at Kusaka before glancing back at the friend seated next to him. "Mom, Dad, stop fighting. You're upsetting the children."

The female pursed her lips as she tried not to laugh, but her lips curved and a chuckle slipped past them despite her efforts, leaving the drummer satisfied with his joke. "Now that that's done, I need to hit some things."

Pointing to the drum kit that sat atop a knock-off Persian rug in his basement, Kusaka hummed. "Alright, get to it."

"Play the pace you agreed on one more time, okay?"

Nodding, Kusaka did as she was asked and before the night was over, they had fleshed out both new songs she'd written. Feeling accomplished by the end of their session, Kusaka's typically reserved resting expression was turned into a small smile. Nothing felt more satisfying to her than completing a song, nothing made her feel more special than to see something she'd help write come to fruition with her friends.

Something had been nagging at the back of Endo's mind after working on one of the new songs and he couldn't figure out what it was until he heard Nakano ask a question that immediately led them all to feel like jerks.

"Since when do you wear jewelry?" The brunette brushed back his shaggy hair as he spoke after noticing the shiny pendant dangling as she zipped up her guitar case. "You going all girly-girl on us now? That's not good for the band's aesthetic."

Kusaka's fingers found their way to the silver pick and she toyed with it for a moment before shrugging. "My mom got it for my birthday, it'd be rude not to wear it."

All three men stopped what they were doing and looked at one another, the expressions on their face all saying the same thing: ** _fuck._**

 _"Zume-chan_ , I-"

"Don't worry about it," she waved away Nakano's apologetic tone, returning to her task. "I didn't expect anyone to remember."

"We should have though," Endo sighed, walking over to her and resting a hand on her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Sorry, Kusaka."

"Yeah," Hasegawa scratched his cheek awkwardly. "We're kinda shitty friends, aren't we..."

"Really guys," Kusaka shook off Endo's hand so that she could slip her arms through the backpack straps of her case. "It's just another day. It doesn't matter."

"If it was just another day, you wouldn't have written a song about it, pal," the blond pointed out disappointedly, he couldn't believe he forgot.

"The song wasn't about the validity of celebrating birthdays, it was about growing up," she tucked her thumbs under the straps of her case. "Adulting, if you will."

"That's the song name!" Hasegawa shouted out, finding the answer to a question they hadn't addressed yet. "It'd be awesome!"

"Sure," the girl shrugged. "I'm gonna get going, though. I'll see you guys next week?"

"You're not walking home alone at midnight, Zume-chan. Don't be stupid," Nakano pointed out, slinging his cross-body strap over his head and adjusting it. "I'll drive you."

Kusaka raised an eyebrow at him. "Your mom finally let you borrow her car, huh?"

"Hah," he rubbed the back of his neck, not willing to admit aloud he had hoped to have this excuse to be alone with her when he asked his mother a few days prior to borrow the vehicle. "Yeah, she wasn't using it. Guess I'm movin' up in the world, huh?"

Shrugging plainly, Kusaka glanced at the door again and Nakano took that as signal enough. He walked to her side and boldly picked up her hand, tugging her into motion as he waved a quick goodbye to their bandmates and hurried up the basement stairs.

Slipping her hand out of his, Kusaka gave him a sidelong glance – _what the hell was that?_ Feeling her eyes on him as he pressed on the electronic key fob to unlock the freshly washed black Honda Civic that sat in the driveway, Nakano wracked his brain for something to say, drawing a blank until he had pulled out on the road and couldn't take the silence any longer.

Clearing his throat, Nakano's tone was genuine as he spoke. "I'm sorry I forgot about your birthday, Suzume-chan."

"It's fine," Kusaka murmured, her gaze focused on the warm glow of the streetlights whizzing past her window.

"It's not fine. We've been friends for years...I should've remembered." The squeak of the pleather steering wheel adjusting to his tightened grip gained the brunette's attention and she noticed how tense he looked.

"Baka-Naka, it's okay," she poked his shoulder as she teased him, hoping to ease his worries. She didn't expect them to feel guilty or bad, nor did she want them to.

Stopped at a red light, Nakano looked over at the girl he had feelings for, admiring her for a long moment before returning his attention to the road. "It looks good on you. Mama bear chose well."

"I like it," she spoke softly, her fingers travelling to trace the pendant once again, a physical reminder that even if she wasn't present, she would still be there for her if she truly needed. "Makes me feel less alone."

A line formed between Nakano's brows and his chest began to ache; he also hadn't considered how she would be feeling after her three best friends graduated and had significantly less time for her. "You feel alone?"

Realizing that she let herself be more vulnerable than she normally would, Kusaka's cheeks began to heat up and she tried to play off her confession as no big deal. "Oh, you know, just with Mom working all the time and stuff. It's nothing."

The male hummed disapprovingly. "She's still got that second job, huh?"

"Yeah..." Kusaka chewed on the inside of her cheek. "But it'll be okay. It always is, right?"

"Of course," he confirmed, his oceanic eyes connecting with hers for a brief second as he sneaked a peek over at her, hoping that even a little reassurance might help. "Everything will be okay."

"So there's nothing to fret about then," Kusaka added, though even she didn't believe herself. She let out a silent breath as she tucked her hair behind her ear, trying to ignore the swell of emotions that were suddenly overwhelming her.

Pulling up to the curb in front of her house, Nakano killed the engine and shifted in his seat to face her. The second her door opened, he impulsively leaned over and pulled it back shut, keeping her in the vehicle a little longer.

With her head tilted to the side like a confused puppy, Kusaka questioned her friend. "Is something wrong, Baka Naka?"

Not paying any mind to the continued usage of the nickname she knew irked him just as much as his nickname for her annoyed her, Nakano kept his gaze locked on her, studying the plains of her face as she attempted to hide her pain. "You have my number," he cleared his throat. " _Our_ numbers. Call or text whenever, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," she dismissed his offer – it wasn't like they were the most available people these days, they all had work and school to deal with; she would merely be a bother. "Thanks for the ride, Nakano."

"Not _whatever,_ " Nakano insisted. "We're a team, yeah? The four of us. Lean on us when you need to, Zume-chan."

Though she knew his offer was sincere, she also knew how big of a burden she would feel if she were to bother any of her friends. Even if she hated it, she wasn't doing _horrible_ all alone on her isolated island...not horrible enough to feel the need to take away time she knew they needed to reserve for studying just because she was lonely. She thought that would be selfish of her, though of course, none of her friends would have thought that.

"Okay," she nodded, unwilling to meet the guitarist's eyes. She pushed the door open and slid out after giving her final greeting. "G'night, Nakano."

A frown fell upon his lips as he watched Kusaka walk up the steps to her door, waiting to make sure she was inside before leaving. Nakano stared at the closed house door for a long moment as he digested what just happened. He'd never seen her like that before...

Angry? Check.

Annoyed? Absolutely.

Happy? You bet.

Frustrated? All the time.

But that depressed tone she failed to hide from him was new – and he hated that. What he hated even more than knowing that she was having a hard time, was that this was the first time she'd ever mentioned anything serious and personal to him; and even then it was seemingly a slip of the tongue.

Resting his forehead against the steering wheel, Nakano felt as if he failed her as a friend and that he didn't even deserve to feel as he did for her. He knew there had been times he could've reached out to her to hang out or chat – but he didn't. After taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly, the male turned his key and let his mother's car rumble back to life. He was going to be a better friend – he had to be because now he knew that she needed him, he couldn't let her down again.

-

Weekend practices were a regular occurrence for Karasuno's volleyball team, but that didn't mean that Tsukishima liked that. Sure, he was starting to actually enjoy the game now, but he still didn't want to spend his entire Saturday _and_ Sunday afternoon practicing when he knew he needed to study as well. But alas, for a reason unbeknownst to himself, the blond was there sweating up a storm as he played a three vs. three practice match against the third years.

"Nice receive!" Sugawara called out to Sawamura after he dived for a spike from Hinata, popping the ball back in the air.

The grey-haired player's fingers briefly touched the synthetic leather as he set the ball for their ace, who slammed the ball onto the court, narrowly dodging Tsukishima's block. Tsukishima stared down his opponents across the net, his team was falling behind and he needed leverage to win this match without fully relying on Kageyama and Hinata's freak quick attack all the time. It wasn't until his eyes connected with his captain that he realized there was a card in his arsenal that he hadn't played yet.

"I hadn't realized just how talented Kusaka-san was until she played for me on Friday, Captain," A smirk tugged up the blond's lips as he kept his focus on Sawamura. "It's no wonder you have a hopeless crush."

Sawamura's eyes widened in surprise as Tsukishima's words caught the attention of everyone on _and_ off the court. Tsukishima chuckled ominously at his reaction and folded his arms across his chest. "She's prettier than I expected as well. I think I'll spend more time with her tomorrow and explore the _chemistry_ we have further."

Knowing that Tsukishima's way of operating during a game was to get under his opponent's skin helped contain the fire that was stoked in Sawamura's chest, but that didn't mean he was unphased by the words. What bothered him the most was that he couldn't tell if the first-year was lying or not. Had he really met Kusaka? Did she purposefully play for Tsukishima? She'd never done that for him...

Feeling the tension rolling off of his friend in waves, Sugawara laughed softly and took a few steps to be closer to Sawamura so he could karate chop his side. A quiet 'oomph' fell from the brunette's lips as he was physically shaken out of his worried thoughts and forced to catch his balance, looking toward Sugawara for an explanation.

"Since when do you let people play mind games with you, Daichi?" Sugawara patted his shoulder. "I doubt Tsukishima even knows Kusaka-san anyway."

"That's where you're wrong, Sugawara-san," the blond smirked at Sawamura. "Unlike you, I didn't have to interrupt her to gain her attention. Your little girlfriend asked for _my_ help with her song. We even spent the entire lunch period together."

"But Tsukki, you we-"

Tsukishima shot a menacing glare at Yamaguchi, who stood on the sidelines, daring him to continue. Rubbing the back of his neck, Yamaguchi quickly looked down at his shoes. "Nevermind."

Fists clenched at Sawamura's side as he imagined what it would've been like to have shared such a moment with Kusaka – why would she have gone to Tsukishima for help anyway? How did they even know each other?

Sugawara hummed, deep in thought as he considered the situation. One glance down and he noticed his friend's white-knuckled first, leaving him to let out a soft laugh. _Of course_ Daichi was a jealous type. "Looks like you're gonna have to fight for your girl, Daichi," he nudged his side. "Let's start on the court."

Looking over at Sugawara only to see his unfaltering smile, Sawamura turned to face forward. Raising an eyebrow at the tall blond across from him, the captain's determination rang true in his voice. "You're only giving me more motivation to kick your team's ass, Tsukishima," he glanced at both Azumane and Sugawara, who shared confident nods of approval with him before he continued. "We're going to make you regret that."

And he did.

With as much drive as he'd felt in an official game, Sawamura was determined to receive every ball that threatened to land on their side of the court. He wouldn't lose to Tsukishima now, and he certainly wouldn't when it came to Kusaka. With every dig, his focus sharpened until finally the final point was scored, a rare setter dump courtesy of Sugawara.

Grinning from ear to ear, the third years patted each other on the back while the first years sulked – some more loudly than others.

"Tsukishiiiimaaaaa," Hinata whined, his bottom lip jutted out as he dragged his feet. "Why did you have to provoke them like that? We were gonna win!"

"There was a significant chance that it would have worked. We were losing anyway," Tsukishima looked down at the ginger with a stoic expression before walking off the court to grab a bottle of water.

"We could've beaten them!" Hinata shouted after him before looking at Kageyama for confirmation.

"It was a valid tactic," the setter grumbled, also annoyed that they had lost. His hands clenched into fists as he stared at the winning team. "But we won't lose next time."

Across the court, Azumane beamed proudly at his friend. "You got me all fired up, Daichi. That was intense!"

"Hah," he scratched his cheek as he felt himself becoming calmer. "Yeah. Sorry for losing my cool."

"Looks like it was just what you needed to get your head in the game," Sugawara commented, tossing a bottle of water at each of them before grabbing one for himself. "If I knew it only took raging jealousy to make you so focused I would've tried to get you a girlfriend a long time ago."

"I'm not jealous," Sawamura scoffed before taking a drink of water.

Sugawara and Azumane shared a glance before they both burst out laughing. "Yeah," the setter laughed. "And Azumane is a rebellious badass."

"Yeah!" Azumane agreed, only to furrow his brows a beat later. " _Hey,_ wait a second!"

Chuckling at his friends, the setter ruffled the hair on both of their heads. "Cheer up! We won!"

Approaching the rest of the group, Tanaka slapped Sawamura's back. "Look at you getting' all intense about your lady-friend."

"Yeah! Good on ya, Daichi-san!" Nishinoya cheered, zipping up beside Tanaka with a grin. "You show that first-year who's _really_ gonna get the girl!"

With an awkward laugh, Sawamura rubbed the back of his neck as he glanced away, only to catch Tsukishima staring at him. The embers of his jealousy once again began to burn a bit brighter at the sight of his team mate's pensive expression. Nishinoya and Tanaka's continued teasing fell upon deaf ears as their team captain studied the first-year blocker, wondering what, if anything, happened between him and Kusaka.


	8. Chapter 8

After being dismissed for lunch, a curiosity within Tsukishima led him to instruct his best friend to go to the cafeteria without him. Taking his time to stroll through the halls with both hands resting in his pockets, the blond ended up in front of the music room door. Slipping his headphones off his ears to rest on his neck, he paused to listen for any signal that Kusaka was in the room, and when he hadn't heard anything, he simply opened the door and walked in.

Unsurprisingly, the brunette was in the room, but perched atop her knee wasn't her Stratocaster, it was simply a notebook. With the cap of her pen resting delicately between her teeth, Kusaka glanced up from her page to see whoever had entered the room and raised an eyebrow at the tall first-year.

"What a disgusting habit," he quipped. "Remind me never to borrow a pen from you."

Not bothering with a verbal response, Kusaka rolled her eyes and looked back down at the lyrics on the page. It only took a few strides before Tsukishima found himself in front of her and swiped the book from her lap.

"Hey!" She called out, reaching to grab her notebook back. Quickly holding it above his head, Tsukishima became much more intrigued by the contents on the page based on her reaction.

Typically Kusaka wasn't embarrassed about her writing or her songs. She didn't much care what other people thought of her and she knew that her bandmates would get behind just about anything she'd write lyrically. This time though, she wasn't writing a song for the band; she was writing one for herself. One that might help her work through how she was feeling without having to feel like a burden to anyone else. She hadn't intended on sharing it with others, it was purely music therapy.

Holding the notebook above him, Tsukishima tilted his head up to read the lyrics.

 _So isolated, I talk to the voice in my head_  
 _So isolated, my body is taking a leave_   
_So isolated, I don't wanna let people see_   
_My isolation is simple and stupid as me_   
_Don't crowd me out 'cause I am not a shell_   
_I burned myself when I was running hell_

 _Don't let go, don't let go_   
_Everybody knows_   
_Don't let go, don't let go_   
_Everybody shows_

With his signature poker face, Tsukishima dropped the book back into her lap and rested his hand on top of an empty chair beside her. For the first time in a long time, he wasn't sure what to say. It was clear he'd invaded her privacy by reading her lyrics, but in doing so he gained a better understanding of the girl seated beside him and ultimately related with the sentiment of her words. Of course, he knew any comment on the subject matter would've been unwelcomed, but he also knew he had to say _something_. "You should get a thesaurus."

Brown eyes flickered up the narrow at the blond. "Not the point, stretch."

"I'm just saying you could broaden your vocabularic horizons," he waved his free hand dismissively.

"Thank you for your infinite wisdom," she deadpanned, her attention dropping back to the page, annoyed with the situation but trying not to show it. He reminded her too much of Nakano; she knew he wanted to get a rise out of her.

"You should consider yourself lucky," he retorted.

Kusaka capped her pen and slid it into the coil of her notebook, it was obvious that he wasn't leaving without something. "Why are you here?"

"Can't two best friends hang out at lunch?"

"Sure they can. So where's yours?"

A smirk tugged up Tsukishima's lips. He didn't particularly like the company of many people, and though he had barely interacted with her, the blond knew she wouldn't be horrible to have around. So to make up for his misstep, he offered her an olive branch. "Waiting in the cafeteria so get up, let's go."

She blinked at him. "That wouldn't be two best friends hanging out at lunch."

"It'd be two best friends and some weird third-year hanging out at lunch," he shrugged, placing a hand on his stomach. "Hurry up, I'm starving."

The blank expression on her face was enough to irritate the boy, who lightly kicked her foot in an effort to get her moving. "Do I have to drag you?"

"Uh, no" Kusaka scratched her cheek, surprised that he was being so adamant about her joining him. She grabbed her messenger bag from beside her seat and shoved her book into it before standing up and draping the strap over her shoulder, padding along beside Tsukishima to the cafeteria.

"Tsukki!" Yamaguchi called out, waving his hand to alert him to the table he'd snagged for them.

" _Tsukki?_ " Kusaka smirked. "That's cute."

"Can it, lone wolf."

"Sure thing, _Tsukki_ ," she teased, using her finger to zip her lips and toss the invisible key at him.

A few tables away, Azumane grimaced when he saw Kusaka sitting down with Yamaguchi and Tsukishima. Sugawara noticed the change in his friend's expression and glanced over his shoulder only to make the same face before turning forward again.

"What?" Sawamura questioned, taking another bite of his lunch.

"Uh," Azumane rubbed the back of his neck. "Nothing?"

The way the pitch of his voice changed left Sawamura to raise an eyebrow at him. "That wasn't very convincing."

The volleyball ace chuckled sheepishly before looking at Sugawara for help. He ran a hand through his hair as he considered his options in a split second before deciding to just be truthful. "Looks like Tsukishima made a new friend."

Looking over his shoulder at the spot he knew Tsukishima usually claimed, his brows furrowed. Sitting beside the tall middle blocker was the girl he couldn't get off his mind, the one Tsukishima had claimed to have chemistry with. "So he wasn't lying, then."

"Guess not," Sugawara hummed before nudging his friend's side. "But hey, it's just lunch. Maybe you should ask her to join our table tomorrow."

Sawamura glanced over his shoulder once again, only this time his eyes caught the attention of Kusaka's wandering gaze and she raised an eyebrow at him. He gifted her a charming smile before facing forward, his mind made up in an instant. "Yeah, I will," he scratched his cheek. "If that's okay with you guys, that is."

"I like Kusaka-san," Sugawara smiled. "Definitely okay with me."

Azumane shrugged. "If Suga approves, then who am I to stand in the way of young love?"

"Oh, but you'll stand in the way of old love?" Sugawara teased.

"That's not what I meant!"

-

What Sawamura didn't know was that when Kusaka noticed his gaze on her, her stomach began to flutter. After what happened at the nursing home on Saturday, the thought of Sawamura made her heart beat faster. The way his eyes had focused on her and only her was intoxicating, but it wasn't as overwhelming as the ghost of his touch that still lingered in her memories. Though it was merely an innocent tucking of her hair, she had never experienced such a gesture before and it flustered her more than she ever could've imagined.

Kusaka had always been 'one of the guys', and she was okay with that. Sure, she'd had a few minor crushes before, but everything else was uncharted territory for her and she assumed she just wasn't the kind of girl that guys liked in that way. So to say it was a surprise for her to have been on the receiving end of such a flirtatious gesture would be an understatement.

Tsukishima and Yamaguchi chatted about their classes as they ate their lunches, the latter kindly sharing half of his sandwich with the girl as she hadn't brought anything to eat. Despite knowing it was just because Tsukishima pitied her for what he read, Kusaka actually enjoyed sitting with them. She didn't add much to the conversation, but she didn't need to, being around them was enough.

-

Impatiently glancing at the clock above the whiteboard at the front of the room, Sawamura couldn't wait for class to be over fast enough. The moment they were dismissed, his books were sloppily shoved in his backpack and he was in front of Kusaka's desk.

Seeing a pair of white runners with black accents come into her line of vision as she loaded her bag, Kusaka's heart picked up pace. "Forget something in your locker again, Sawamura-san?"

"Nah," he shrugged. "Just feel like stretching my legs. Up for some company?"

Grabbing her bag's strap and slinging it over her shoulder as she stood up, Kusaka nodded. "Sure."

"Great!" He cheered, much too enthusiastically before clearing his throat and repeating himself in a much more subdued tone. "I mean, great."

Glancing up at him, Kusaka noticed the rosy tint of his cheeks and turned away to hide the small smile that she felt rising to her lips. _How can someone be so smooth one day and such a total dork the next?_

"So, did you have a nice weekend?" Sawamura questioned as they began their journey through Karasuno.

"Yeah," she nodded. "You?"

"Definitely. It was really great to see you on Saturday. How long have you been volunteering at the nursing home?"

"Since my da-" Kusaka's face contorted as she cringed, catching herself before she gave up a piece of much too personal information to someone she hardly knew. "Since my mom started working there a few years ago."

Not missing her unusual response, Sawamura hummed. Kusaka stared blankly ahead, though it was clear by the empty look in her eyes that she wasn't paying attention to where she was going. He'd now entered stormy waters and now he had to tread carefully.

"That's kind of you," the man smiled softly down at her. "I know my grandfather always likes chatting with the volunteers, makes his day."

"You mean your _Jii-chan?_ " The girl teased, recalling their interaction that weekend and sneaking a glimpse up at him to see his reaction.

"Hah," he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, embarrassed that she had remembered that. "Yeah. Guess the nickname just stuck."

"Cute," she murmured under her breath.

A comfortable silence fell between them momentarily, Sawamura feeling a swell in his chest as he replayed her mumble in his mind a thousand times and Kusaka trying desperately to hold her composure and not to think about if he might repeat Saturday's hair tuck.

As they approached the door to the band room, Sawamura's head descended from the clouds and his dreamy smile turned into a sweet one. Kusaka leaned against the door frame as she looked up, her eyes connecting with the ones already glued to her. Not knowing what to say but unwilling to disconnect from Sawamura's magnetic gaze, the girl chewed on the inside of her cheek.

Struggling to not reach out to her, Sawamura crossed his arms over his chest to take away the temptation, inadvertently bringing her attention to flicker down to his muscular forearms. "Well, I hope the rest of your day is great, Kusaka-san."

"Thanks," she nodded with a soft petal pink blush gracing her cheeks. "You too, Sawamura-san."

Pushing herself away from the door, Kusaka made her way into the room and took a deep breath before shaking out her limbs as she let go of all the tension she was feeling. The giddiness she felt along with the flutter of her stomach had her wondering if this is what Maeda always experienced. Part of her hated that she could feel this way, it was so unlike her to feel less than calm and collected. But if she were being honest with herself, it was almost exhilarating to be experiencing something new and exploring the uncharted territories of her heart.

Jogging to his English class, Sawamura had an impossibly wide grin plastered on his face. Who cares if Tsukishima was friends with Kusaka, there was no way that four-eyed grump could make her blush as sweetly as she just had for him, right?

After slipping into his seat beside Azumane, the long-haired brunette shot him a friendly smile. "So? Did she say yes?"

The way Sawamura's eyes widened had his friend chuckle. "Forgot, huh?"

With a quiet groan, the captain hit his forehead with his palm. "Shit."

-

Unfamiliar anxiety bubbled within Sawamura's chest as he considered looking for Kusaka after they finished practice that afternoon. He desperately wanted to get to know her better and though he was grateful for the few five-minute snippets of conversation they'd shared between classes, he couldn't help longing for more. She made him curious and excited, she had his heart pounding in a way he'd never experienced before and he wanted to chase those feelings as well as discover the new ones he could only anticipate them blooming into.

Near the end of volleyball practice, Tsukishima stood in front of the bench with a small towel wrapped around his neck and a water bottle in hand. Coach Ukai had opened the door to let the late-fall breeze penetrate the sweat-drenched stale air and just as he opened his eyes after wiping his forehead, Tsukishima's gaze landed on a bobbing head of golden-brown hair.

Glancing to the left at his team captain, Tsukishima couldn't help but want to mess with him – he needed to get back at him for losing that three on three game the day before. The blond cleared his throat louder than necessary and held out his bottle to Yamaguchi. "Hold this for a minute."

The dark haired boy took the bottle and shrugged. "Sure, Tsukki. No problem."

Several pairs of eyes watched with curiosity as the lanky blond jogged out of the gym and approached a passing female.

"By yourself again, loner?" Tsukishima called out, slowing to a stop as she turned to face him, pulling an earbud out of her ear.

"Those nerdy glasses must add a plus two to your perception, huh?"

"Nerdy? My mom says they make me look cool," he joked, peering over his shoulder to see if he'd gained Sawamura's attention yet.

A smile tugged up Kusaka's lips as she rolled her eyes, propping one hand on her hip as the other waved away the notion. "Hate to break it to you, top shelf; she lied."

"Ouch," he placed his hand over his heart, an action that reminded her of one of her best friends.

Taking in his obvious volleyball attire, she didn't need to ask what he was up to. She looked behind him at the door and noticed a few of his teammates crowding around before two pushed past and began running towards them.

"Since when do you talk to pretty girls, Tsukishima?!" Tanaka called out as he approached, Nishinoya zipping past him to stand at the blond's side.

"Yeah!" The libero agreed, his eyes lighting up as he focused on Kusaka. "You're friends with this grouch?"

"Um," Kusaka scratched her cheek as she looked up at Tsukishima. "Maybe friends isn't the right word."

"That hurts, Kusaka-san," he deadpanned, his use of her name looping in both nosy second-years, making their eyes widen in surprise.

" _Kusaka-san?_ " Nishinoya guffawed.

"Like _the_ Kusaka-san who D-"

A hand was quickly slapped over Tanaka's mouth as Sugawara joined the group, ejecting a loud laugh as he tried to distract the female from the metaphorical beans Tanaka nearly spilled. "Hey, stranger! What brings you around these parts?"

"Hey, Sugawara-san. I was just headed home, actually but Tsukki stopped me and well," she let out an awkward laugh. "Here we are."

" _Tsukki?_ "

"Hah.. Uh, yeah," she rubbed the back of her neck as she watched Sawamura now approach the group, his arms crossed as he sent a glare to the second-years before smiling at the girl.

"Sorry about them, Kusaka-san," he apologized, his voice taking on a less friendly tone as he continued. "Seems like practice just hasn't been draining enough for these numbskulls today. Might have to do some diving drills to finish off the day."

A shudder ran down everyone's spine at the thought of another set of diving drills and Tanaka rubbed the back of his neck. "Y'know what? I think I'm actually feeling pretty wiped. I'm gonna go take a seat on the bench with Coach and uh, strategize."

Sugawara chuckled as Nishinoya agreed and the pair turned back to the gym, their comments about how cute Kusaka was as they walked away were heard by all. The four of them stood in a square and feeling all eyes on her, Kusaka stared down at the cord she was twirling in her fingers. "You guys should get back to practice. Sorry for interrupting."

"Don't be so apologetic, hermit crab," Tsukishima mused. "Do you always apologize for things that aren't your fault?"

"Geez, don't call me out like that, bean stalk," she rolled her eyes, slipping her earbuds back in and giving a wave to Sawamura and Sugawara. "See ya."

 _They already have nicknames?_ Sawamura worried as she turned away. Of course, that worry was short lived when Sugawara gave his friend a gentle push in Kusaka's direction and looped his arm around Tsukishima's shoulders, guiding the first-year back towards the gym.

"Sorry," Sawamura apologized as he bumped into the brunette. "I actually meant to ask you something earlier but I forgot..."

Taking her earphones out once again she blinked at Sawamura, waiting for him to continue. She watched as he glanced over his shoulder at the audience that stood at the gym door and narrowed his eyes at them. The team dispersed immediately, walking away whistling with their hands in their pockets, pretending like nothing happened.

Sawamura brought his full attention back to the girl in front of him and noticed that she was hiding a smile behind her hand. Reaching out to place his hand on her wrist, the team captain gently led her hand down to her side, his touch earning a fierce blush to rise to her cheeks.

"Please don't hide your smile from me," he requested with a gentle curve of his lips before adding, "Sorry, sometimes I swear they're all gremlins."

Kusaka let out a clumsy laugh and tucked her hair behind her ear as she looked up at the volleyball captain, unsure of what to say or do while her heartbeat sped into overdrive.

"Anyways," Sawamura took a deep breath to steel his nerves. "I was just wondering if you wanted to have lunch with Suga, Asahi, and I tomorrow?"

The girl stayed silent a beat too long, leaving Sawamura to curse himself for once again making things more awkward between them. He ran a hand through his hair as he spoke, "If you don't already have plans, of course. It's okay if you don't want to though, I'm sure you're busy practicing an-"

"Sure," she accepted, his unexpectedly sheepish rant bringing her out of her own cyclical thoughts. "I guess that'd be okay."

The way his eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas brought a small smile to her lips and just as she raised her hand to cover it, she felt the ghost of his touch lingering on her wrist and dropped it back to her side.

"Great!" This time he didn't bother to hide his excitement and he simply grinned. "Well, I gotta get back. See you tomorrow, Kusaka-san."

"Okay," she nodded. "See you around."

Sawamura ran back to the gym only to be met with a slew of squelching kissing sounds and teasing remarks from his team. With blushing cheeks, Sawamura laughed off his nervous energy before loudly clapping his hands together. "Alright, that's enough, boys. I wasn't kidding though. Five laps of dives!"

"Five?!"

"Don't act like you didn't earn them by not minding your own damn business. Now let's go!"

Moans and groans of annoyance filled the room before the team accepted their fates and began hurling themselves at the slick wooden surface. Just as he was about to take his first plunge, a hand clapped Sawamura's shoulder and Tsukishima's daring tone spoke two words that poured gasoline on an already raging fire.

_"Game on."_


	9. Chapter 9

Leaning against the wall beside the cafeteria with one foot propped up and his arms folded over his chest, Sawamura scanned the hallway as he waited for Kusaka to appear. It was only a few moments before his eyes connected with a pair of doe-like ones, causing his lips to pull up into a bright smile and her heart to flutter at the sight of it.

"Hey," she greeted him as she grew near. "You didn't have to wait for me, you know."

Sawamura shrugged. "It's no problem, I didn't want you to have to worry about finding us."

"Oh," Kusaka scratched her cheek sheepishly. "Thanks."

"It's no problem," he soothed, motioning with his hand toward the open set of doors. "Shall we?"

With a nod, the captain led her inside the cafeteria and to the table he, Sugawara, and Azumane always occupied where they all greeted each other politely before settling in with their lunches.

Worried about saying the wrong thing and potentially embarrassing herself in front of Sawamura, the brunette stayed fairly quiet unless addressed directly. All three boys at the table tried their best to include her in their conversations, but once on the topic of volleyball she definitely was the odd man out and struggled to even follow the conversation.

"I'm sorry, Kusaka-san," Sugawara smiled apologetically. "When we get started talking strategy sometimes it's hard to stop. This must be really dull for you."

"Don't stop on my account," she waved her hands in front of her chest. "I'm um, good at listening?"

"We're not being very inclusive," A frown flickered across Sawamura's face as he began to worry about what she must be thinking and tried to include her again. "Kusaka-san, do you play any sports?"

"No," she sighed. "I'm actually really bad at sports... I just don't have the coordination for it."

"But you're such a talented guitarist," Sugawara pointed out. "Your hand-eye coordination has got to be amazing. Maybe you just haven't found the right sport yet."

"Maybe..."

"Have you tried volleyball?" Azumane questioned. "With hand-eye coordination like that, I bet you'd be an awesome receiver. Don't you think, Daichi?"

"Definitely," he smiled at Kusaka and she bit the inside of her rose stained cheek.

"I tried it in elementary but pretty much any sport that involved a ball ended up with me getting hit in the face."

"Oh, I still get hit in the face," Sawamura laughed.

"Not as much as Hinata though," Sugawara chimed in. "His face is like a volleyball magnet some days."

"Yeah," Azumane chuckled, shrugging at Kusaka. "That's pretty normal. Nothing to be embarrassed about."

The girl tilted her head to the side. "Aren't you afraid you'll get hurt though?"

"Every day," he replied, his voice lowering in a much less jovial tone. "But we can't let a little fear stop us, right? I mean, take Daichi for example. He was injured during the game with Wakutani two weeks ago but he's still fighting."

Her eyes snapped to Sawamura next to her, studying him intently as she searched for an injury she might have missed. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he smiled softly, her worry sending a surge of warmth through his chest. "Collisions on the court happen when your body moves before your mind. I'm lucky I only lost a tooth."

"That must've hurt," Kusaka cringed, lifting her hand to her jaw as she imagined how it would've felt.

Sawamura reached out and took her hand away from her cheek, placing it back on the table with a gentle, reassuring pat. "I'm good as new now though, just with one fake tooth."

"Like a pirate," Sugawara joked, finding amusement in the flirtatious moment that just unfolded and wanting to smooth it over to avoid any awkwardness for everyone's sake.

" _Not_ like a pirate," Sawamura sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "It's not some ridiculous thing, it looks like a normal tooth. You can't even tell the difference."

"Did you get a peg leg after your injury too?"

While Sugawara and Sawamura continued to bicker back and forth, Kusaka found herself staring at her hand, lost in thought. Her skin still tingled from where his had been and her entire being felt as if it were on fire. She focused fully on remembering what his touch felt like, warm but not clammy, firm yet gentle - all in a matter of seconds.

A heavy hand landed on Kusaka's shoulder and pulled her out of her reverie, her face blooming a deep crimson as embarrassment burned within her. After memorizing how Sawamura's touch had felt, she was confident that it wasn't his hand on her shoulder but she looked at him first anyway. Despite the smile on his face, Kusaka could tell by the tension in his jaw and the look in his eye that he wasn't happy.

With a flicker of confusion across her face, the brunette looked up to see her lunch buddy from yesterday. "Oh, hey, Tsukki."

The blond removed his hand from her shoulder after her acknowledgment. "Guess the lone wolf found a pack today."

She shrugged. "Guess you'll have to find a new insult then."

Tsukishima smirked and tapped his temple. "There's a few up here for future use, nothing to worry your pretty head about it, tomato face."

Sawamura's fists clenched in his lap underneath the table, away from sight. Tsukishima was the last person he wanted to see right now and with how casually the blond was able to banter with and complement his crush, Sawamura couldn't help the jealous thoughts that began to run rampant.

Kusaka's expression fell flat and she narrowed her eyes. She shouldn't be surprised he would point out something that would embarrass her. "Can I help you with something, string bean?"

"No," he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose before shooting a sly smile at Sawamura. "Just figured I'd say hi since I was passing by."

"Oh," she hummed. "Well, hi."

Tsukishima rolled his eyes. "Hi."

"We'll see you at practice after school, Tsukishima," Sugawara smiled, trying to dispel the tension around them with his friendly demeanour. "Better bring your A-game."

"I always bring my A-game when it matters," he smirked, gripping his backpack strap as he walked away.

"Well, that was weird," Azumane commented with a laugh. "What's up with him lately?"

"He can be hard to read," Sugawara mused, stroking his chin as if he had a beard. "But most of the time I think he's just trying to get a reaction out of people."

Nodding in agreement, Kusaka added, "One of my best friends is like that too."

"You have friends?" Azumane questioned without thinking, earning a swat to the back of the head courtesy of Sugawara.

"Yes, I have friends," she rolled her eyes. "They just graduated last year."

"Oh," he rubbed the sore spot on his head. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude."

"It's fine, Azumane-san. I get it. I've tended to keep to myself this year."

"Well, we're happy to have you around, Kusaka-san," he smiled.

"Yeah," Sugawara grinned, looking at Sawamura who was still trying to shake off the intended effect of Tsukishima's visit. "Some of us more than others. Right, Daichi?"

"Hmm?" Sawamura hummed at the sound of his name, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. "Sorry, what was that?"

"I was just saying that you're really happy to have Kusaka-san around," the setter reiterated.

"Oh," Sawamura looked over at Kusaka, whose cheeks were still tinged with a charming bubble gum blush, and smiled while he nudged her arm. "'Course I am."

"Um, thanks I guess," she bit the inside of her cheek as she shyly glanced away. Feeling uncomfortable under all three of their gazes, Kusaka tried to guide the conversation back to a topic that would require less from her. "So, uh, volleyball...lots of games coming up or...?"

"We've got some time to train before nationals but I'm hoping Coach can get us more practice games," Sawamura explained.

"I bet he will," Azumane added. "He always seems to come through for us when we need it most."

A hum of agreement was shared and they continued on to discuss the teams they wanted to practice against before their next competition. As the lunch period wrapped, Azumane parted with the group to head to his history class while the three remaining seniors made their way to math. Lost in her own world of thought, the female stayed quiet as they travelled through the halls, not noticing the many apprehensive glances that Sawamura had stolen and the worry that seeped from his pores.

Why was she suddenly so much quieter than earlier? Had he said something to upset her? Was he being too forward with her? Was he scaring her off as his grandfather said?

...was it because of Tsukishima?

-

The rest of the day was relatively uneventful for Kusaka as she floated her way through her classes with her head in the clouds. Though she enjoyed the company of others during lunch today, she was itching to get her hands on her guitar after school to play whatever she wanted, not just what she was required to play during her band class. Having English as her last period of the day, she had to backtrack a fair amount to reach her destination but she didn't mind all that much - her mind was otherwise occupied today anyway.

The sound of the voice she'd played on repeat in her mind all afternoon manifested on her journey and she glanced around, curious as to why Sawamura might have been in the halls chatting and not desperately rushing to volleyball practice as she assumed he would have. That curiosity crashed down on her like a tonne of bricks when she turned the corner and saw the Karasuno girls' volleyball club captain smiling sweetly at Sawamura as they spoke about something Kusaka couldn't quite make out.

A line formed between her brows as she watched Michimiya gently place her hand on Sawamura's arm, a blush on the beautiful girl's cheeks as she flirted with him, leaving little room between the two of them in the process. Damning the fact that she had to pass the pair to get to her destination, Kusaka took a deep breath and tilted her chin down to keep her eyes focused on the ground below her in an effort to ignore the sinking feeling that tugged her heart into her swirling stomach.

As Sawamura politely conversed with Michimiya, he considered that the feel of her skin against his when she touched his arm wasn't something that excited him. He found himself only half paying attention to their conversation after that because he couldn't help but wonder if it would've felt different had it been Kusaka.

As if thinking of her made the girl materialize from thin air, Sawamura caught sight of her out of the corner of his eye. "Kusaka-san," he called out as she passed. "Wait up!"

The girl paused in place and spared a glance over her shoulder, watching as Sawamura gave Michimiya an apologetic smile before saying a few words and jogging over to her side. "I didn't know you walked this way."

She nodded. "My last class is with Shibata-sensei. Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt," Kusaka glanced at her black on black Chuck Taylors.

"Quietly walking past was hardly interrupting," he laughed. "Are you headed to the band room?"

"Yep."

"Cool," Sawamura smiled and motioned with his hand for her to begin walking. "I've gotta grab my books from my locker. Is it alright if I tag along?"

Kusaka hummed in approval and they proceeded through the halls making small talk about their afternoon at school. With her fingers fidgeting at her sides, the girl did her best to breathe through the nervousness she felt around Sawamura. After he brought up the topic of music, something she obviously was quite passionate about, it became easier to channel her anxious energy into only her trembling hands, leaving her sounding more like her usual self.

As they turned the corner and began descending down the next hall to their destination, a pair of scrutinizing ice blue eyes were glued to the two third-years. Kusaka was too busy looking up at Sawamura while she spoke to notice the figure leaning casually in the doorway to the room she planned on entering until she was almost directly in front of them.

Her head tilted to the side as she paused in the middle of her sentence, her gaze finally landing on that belonging to one of her best friends. Nakano rolled his eyes before a smirk pulled up his lips. "Figured this is where you'd hide out after school, Zume-chan."

"It's not hiding if it's where I've gone every day after school for the past three years, Baka."

Sawamura's brows furrowed slightly as he glanced from Kusaka to Nakano and back again, wondering what exactly their relationship was categorized as. Nakano's eyes flickered over to Sawamura as he noticed the male shift closer to his friend and he raised an eyebrow. "Who's the bodyguard?"

"You don't have to be so rude," Kusaka sighed. She looked up at Sawamura and gave him a sheepish smile. "Sawamura-san, this is Nakano. He just graduated so I'm not sure what the heck he's doing back here. Must've failed something."

"They wouldn't have let me graduate if I had failed, idiot," Nakano leaned forward and flicked her forehead to which she swatted away his hand with a huff.

"The school could've made a mistake on your transcript. Stuff happens all the time," Kusaka waved her hand dismissively, bringing them back to the previous task. "Anyway. Nakano, Sawamura-san. Sawamura-san, Nakano. Introductions over."

Providing a friendly smile, Sawamura stuck out his hand toward Nakano. Clearly they were friends and if he wanted to get to know Kusaka better, making a good impression with her friends was important. Nakano accepted the gesture by firmly gripping Sawamura's hand while Sawamura in turn strengthened his grip as well, both still smiling as they each made a point of trying to be more dominant while keeping up the illusion of politeness.

"Lucky us, Yamaguchi," an amused voice called out. "Looks like we've stumbled upon the most testosterone-filled handshake known to mankind."

"Tsukki you shouldn't say things like that, they can hear you," Yamaguchi nervously replied, his eyes meeting with Kusaka's as he gave her an awkward smile. "Sorry, Kusaka-san."

The handshake was dropped instantaneously by both Sawamura and Nakano, who now narrowed their eyes at the tall blond paused at Kusaka's left. "While I'm sure you're making a great first impression, it'd be a shame if our captain was late to practice, don't you think?"

"Captain, huh?" Nakano let out a judgmental hum as he looked at Sawamura once again, sizing him up. "Soccer?"

"Volleyball."

Nakano stifled a laugh and Kusaka thwacked his arm. "Don't laugh. It's not like you could ever play a sport, Nakano."

"No, but I learned something that'll get me chicks even after high school."

The girl snorted at her single friend. "Yeah, and how's that working out for you?"

"You tell me," he nodded at her with a smirk.

"Poorly," Kusaka deadpanned.

With one hand clenched into a fist in his pocket, Sawamura fought, once again, to hold his composure. Who the hell was this guy? As if Tsukishima's gaslighting wasn't provocative enough, Nakano's mere presence was seriously getting under his skin.

"Well, whatever. It's still better than volleyball, Zume-chan. Ready to practice?"

" _Zume-chan?"_ Tsukishima repeated teasingly, only to earn himself a glare from the owner of said nickname.

Yamaguchi, who merely wanted to avoid unnecessary conflict at all costs, cleared his throat. "We should get going. Coach Ukai will make us do extra dives if we're late."

"Good point, Yamaguchi," Sawamura agreed, running a hand through his short brown hair to try and relax his expression before bringing his attention back to Kusaka. "You should join us again for lunch tomorrow, Kusaka-san."

"Um, sure. Thanks, Sawamura-san," Kusaka replied, tucking a lock of loose hair behind her ear.

"Perfect," he grinned, her agreement giving him back a bit of confidence that had been siphoned away by the situation at hand. Keeping up with appearances, Sawamura nodded at Nakano. "Nice meeting you."

"Mhmm," Nakano replied, pushing himself off the wall and walking into the band room.

After giving a small wave to the three volleyball players, Kusaka followed behind her older friend and let out a deep breath. "Why do you have to be so rude, Baka Naka."

"I'm not rude, it just seems that way when Mr.Positivity is hamming it up."

"You're hopeless," she grumbled, folding her arms over her chest. "As if I finally start to make friends and you try to scare them off."

"You already have friends," he pointed out, reaching out for his well-worn 70's style white Gibson Flying V that he brought with him and slipping the strap over his shoulder.

The brunette rolled her eyes. "I'm allowed to have other friends."

"Survey says," he strummed the first note of their newest song, holding eye contact with her as he smirked playfully. "You're not."

"The studio audience can kiss my ass." Kusaka stuck her tongue out before she tossed her pick at him and grabbed another out of her pocket. "I don't know why I put up with you."

"Because life would be boring without me, Zume-chan."

-

"Looks like you never even had a chance, Captain," Tsukishima mused as he walked away, Yamaguchi trailing behind him after giving Sawamura a sorry smile.

Sawamura took the few steps to his locker and opened it up, staring inside the grey metal cabinet for a long moment as he processed what had just transpired and tried to cool his head. He wasn't used to getting worked up so often, even during a game he was almost always able to stay level-headed. But when it came to her...he just couldn't help it.

The more they talked, the more she opened up, the more he learned, the harder he crushed but along with that crush came an unfamiliar type of jealousy. It wasn't the same poke to his pride as it was when someone was better than he was at something and it wasn't the same wave of envy that would wash over him when a friend got an awesome gift. Every day Sawamura was discovering just how special Kusaka was and a selfish part of him didn't want to share that with anyone else.

The small smiles and laughs he'd earned all felt like satisfying victories while the sweet cotton candy blushes that rose to her cheeks because of him made his heart swell. Sure, they were still getting to know each other, but he was smart enough to know that this feeling was rare and he planned on holding on to it as long as he could.

Sawamura unzipped his backpack and arranged his textbooks inside before slinging the bag over his shoulder and shutting his locker door. Finding the determination he needed as he slapped both hands on his cheeks, the captain walked towards the sound of guitars being tuned and knocked gently on the door as he poked his head inside.

Kusaka, who was seated across from Nakano with her Strat poised on top of her knee, glanced up. When their eyes met, a small smile tugged at her lips while her stomach did a somersault. "Forget something?"

"Forgot to say goodbye," he shrugged, the sight of her upturned lips exactly what he needed to see. "See you tomorrow, Kusaka-san."

The brunette momentarily bit down on her bottom lip as she tried to contain her smile. "See you tomorrow, Sawamura-san."


	10. Chapter 10

The sound of sneakers squeaking against the waxed wood floorboards of the gym filled her ears as she slipped in through the open door early Friday evening. Seeking out Tsukishima to return the set of headphones he'd begrudgingly lent her earlier that day, Kusaka spotted him in the middle of a practice match, focused on Kageyama's upcoming serve. Noticing a pair of familiar faces seated on the coach's bench, she gave a small wave to try and catch either's attention.

Yamaguchi's head tilted to the side as his eyes connected with hers. She held up the pair of white Somy headphones and his eyes flickered over to Tsukishima for a moment before back to her. Wanting to speed up the process, the brunette softly padded over to Yamaguchi at the bench, gaining the attention of the rest of the watching members of the team that sat beside him.

"Sorry, Tsukki wanted me to return these before the end of practice. Do you mind passing them along for me?"

He nodded and smiled politely. "Sure, Kusaka-san. No problem."

As she handed off the set of headphones, Sugawara stretched out his leg and tapped on the top of her sneaker with his, seeing this as a blessing in disguise for Sawamura. "Have you ever seen the team play? You should stay and watch."

"I haven't, but I don't want to interrupt any more than I already have."

"You're not interrupting," he smiled kindly.

"I, um," Kusaka glanced over at the court as she heard Sawamura's voice call out a few words of encouragement.

"Oh, come on. It'll be fun to watch, Kusaka-san."

After scooching over on the bench to make room for her, Sugawara patted the empty space. She let out a quiet sigh before admitting defeat and taking a seat, careful not to jostle anyone with her bulky guitar case looped around her shoulders.

Kusaka's gaze was immediately drawn to only one person and she winced as he fluidly dived for a spike delivered by Hinata, popping the ball back up and into play. Sugawara, who snuck a peek over at the girl, followed her line of vision to his best friend. "Daichi is only second to our libero when it comes to receiving spikes like that."

Having learned some key phrases over the past few lunch periods she'd spent with them, she had a basic understanding of what role a libero played on the team. "He didn't even hesitate," she commented, her eyes not leaving his form, admiring the way that his white t-shirt clung to his biceps and his shorts showed off his muscular legs – all while she blushed profusely. "That must've hurt."

"We're used to it," he chuckled. "It's satisfying to receive a ball like that because no one expects you to be able to get it."

Kusaka hummed in response, not realizing that her presence was no longer going unnoticed because of her singular focus. Tsukishima smirked, it was obvious she was staring at Sawamura and despite being on the same team as him this time, he just couldn't help but tease his captain.

"You better play your best, Captain. Wouldn't want to disappoint Kusaka-san, would you?"

Taking into consideration how often Tsukishima had been trying to get under his skin lately, especially when it came to Kusaka, Sawamura brushed off the comment as a lie to unnerve him. "We're on the same team, Tsukishima. Now's not the time."

"Suit yourself," the blond shrugged, glancing over his shoulder at the girl in question.

Preparing his jump serve, Azumane breathed deeply before taking a few running steps forward and leaping into the air, swinging his arm and forcefully hitting the ball. Unfortunately for Sawamura, it was in the moment of silence just as the ace began his serve that he heard Kusaka's voice clear as day while she spoke to Sugawara.

His head whipped to his left and he blinked in surprise - why was she here? Was she here to see him? Was she okay? Did something happen?

By the time Sawamura registered Tanaka's call out to him and turned forward, he was able to keep the ball in play by receiving it – with his face. Falling onto his ass in the most ungraceful way, Sawamura clutched his nose in his hand, his eyes clenched tightly as he tried to ignore the radiating pain.

Hearing his teammates beginning to approach him, Sawamura opened his eyes and forced himself back to his feet. After catching a glimpse of blood on his hand, Coach Ukai sighed. "Are you okay, Sawamura?"

He nodded, desperately willing his eyes not to further wander to the girl that distracted him. Of course, that proved to be an impossible task as Ukai's next instruction was for him to trade-off with Sugawara until they were certain the bleeding had stopped. Kusaka rifled through her messenger bag and pulled out a small package of tissues, holding them out to the captain as he traded places with his friend, who patted him on the shoulder as he passed.

Taking the tissues from her outstretched hand, Sawamura murmured a quiet word of thanks before tugging a few out and holding them against the light trickle from his nose, his gaze stuck to his shoes as he felt his cheeks ripen with an embarrassed blush.

Kusaka couldn't help the soft sigh that left her lips as she saw him drop one of his hands to drape across his knee – decorated with a few smears of blood. She leaned down and grabbed the water bottle that sat at Sawamura's feet and squeezed a small amount onto a folded up tissue before reaching over and taking his hand in hers.

"Kusaka-san, y-you don't have to do that," he sputtered, his hand feeling as if it was on fire just from her touch.

"And let you stay all covered in blood?" She glanced up at him, her lips pulling up into a small yet teasing smile as she tried to ignore her racing heart. "Gross."

"I'm hardly covered in it," he defended, watching as she dragged the damp tissue across his skin, her hand delicately holding his.

"Either way," she hummed, gently placing his hand back on his knee. "You're less gross now."

Smiling through his embarrassment, Sawamura noticed he couldn't feel the trickle of blood from his nose any longer and pulled his other hand away from his face, earning a quiet laugh from his crush. Though it was a sound he thoroughly enjoyed and was beginning to hear more often as she slowly became less guarded, hearing it right now only made him worry. "I probably look like a wreck. I should go wash up."

"You're fine," Kusaka shrugged, only to immediately overthink her words and backtrack. "I mean, not like _fine_ fine, just like, um you look good?"

The girl cringed and hid her face in her hands, her anxious rambling only increasing the mortification she inflicted upon herself. "Not like a wreck," she mumbled. "You don't look like a wreck."

Sawamura's stomach fluttered as Kusaka's flustered state only made her more endearing, easing some of his own anxiety as she evened the embarrassment playing field. "Thanks," he laughed. "I think?"

Kusaka ran a hand through her long brown hair as she tried to calm herself. When she peeked over at the male beside her to gauge his reaction and found him beaming down at her with that million-dollar smile of his, she felt the apples of her cheeks flare even more and looked away. How was it possible for someone to make her feel like this? How could he reduce her to a bumbling, blushing mess so easily?

...and why did she like how that felt?

Nudging her shoulder with his, Sawamura pointed to the far side of the court where he assumed Hinata and Kageyama were about to pull out their freak quick attack. He leaned slightly closer to her and explained, "Keep your eye on the shorty. I'm pretty sure they're about t-"

"Holy shit," Kusaka murmured incredulously as she witnessed Hinata race to the far left and smash down the immaculately set ball.

Sawamura chuckled, glad that his distraction was working. "Cool, right?"

"I don't think I've ever seen anyone jump that high before."

"He's our decoy for a reason," he waved his hand softly as he spoke. "Hinata's small but he's also incredibly athletic and entertaining to watch."

"You guys seem like a strong team," the girl mused, watching a long rally continue.

Sawamura's eyes chased the ball as if he were on the court. "Yeah. We've all grown a lot this year."

Kusaka glimpsed up at him, the pride in his eyes as he watched them play was obvious. "You must be pretty proud of your team."

"I am," he nodded, a soft smile tugging his lips before he met her gaze. "Seeing everyone learn and adapt to new things, watching them problem solve on the spot, finally breaking through a barrier that's been holding them back...I love that."

Finding herself able to relate, Kusaka quickly responded. "I feel similarly with my band. One of us will come up with a half-baked idea for a song and it's like a big puzzle for us to work on together," the girl's lips curved as she thought of last weekend with the guys. "It's so satisfying when it all falls into place."

"You know," he rubbed the back of his neck. "I'd love to hear you play sometime."

Kusaka blinked. "You have."

"I've only interrupted," he laughed. "That doesn't really count."

"Maybe one day," Kusaka smirked, though even the idea of playing specifically for him made her insides churn. "If you're lucky."

"Lately I think luck has been on my side."

"You just got hit in the face with a volleyball."

Sawamura grinned. "Didn't break my nose though. That's pretty lucky."

With a subdued laugh and a slight shake of her head, Kusaka continued watching the match before her unfold. A feeling of contentment washed over her as Sawamura settled closer, not bringing extra attention to the fact that he was almost cuddled to her side while explaining various plays to her as they happened.

-

When the practice game came to an end, Kusaka gave a small smile to the team captain while she stood up to leave. "Thanks for letting me watch. See you Monday in class, Sawamura-san."

"Wait," he stood up abruptly, reaching out for her wrist in an effort to keep her there just a moment longer, his body feeling instantly cold without her warmth beside him. "If you don't mind waiting a few minutes for me to change, I can walk you home."

"Oh," she rubbed the back of her neck as she looked at his hand on her wrist and hesitated. It wasn't that she didn't want to spend more time with him, because god, did she ever, it was that she was worried she would embarrass herself again. In fact, as she momentarily evaluated her elevated heart rate, fluttering stomach, and galloping mind – she knew she would end up doing just that.

"It's getting dark and uh," he smiled sheepishly, giving her wrist a squeeze before his fingers slipped away, brushing against her palm in a way that made her heart stop. "I'd worry about you. Give me a little peace of mind and let me walk you home?"

"Sure," she quietly agreed - how could she say no when he phrased it like that?

Beaming brightly, Sawamura couldn't help his excitement. "Great! Wait by the doors and I'll be down as soon as possible."

After racing to the club room to change, Sawamura became subject to the teasing of most of his teammates, and endured the quiet laughs of the more shy personalities.

"Since when did you get so smooth, Daichi-san?" Tanaka laughed, watching as Sawamura dug through his locker in the club room, pulling out his white uniform button-down shirt.

"Oh, come on," Nishinoya patted Sawamura's back before placing his hands confidently on his hips. "Have a little more faith in your captain, Ryu! Of course Daichi-san has game!"

Sawamura swiftly slipped out of his gym shirt and pulled his school uniform shirt on, glancing over his shoulder with a sheepish smile at his teammates. "It's not game."

A cacophony of laughs erupted inside the room and Sugawara was the first to comment, seemingly coming to his defence. "Getting hit in the face isn't exactly what I would call _'game_ '."

"Exactly," Sawamura agreed.

"But the rest," Sugawara propped one hand on his hip as he winked at his friend. " _That_ was game."

"Shut it," Sawamura rolled his eyes.

Changing the rest of his clothes as fast as possible, Sawamura ignored his teammates' jokes at his expense and sped out of the room and back to the gym where Kusaka was waiting. Her eyes popped up from her phone when she heard him approach and her heart sped as he smiled at her. "Thanks for waiting."

With a simple shrug, Kusaka slipped her phone back into her pocket and tucked her fingers around the straps of her guitar case as she began walking, leading Sawamura in the direction he didn't want to admit he already knew.

Silence accompanied the beginning of their journey, neither wanting to say something to embarrass themselves but the quietness wasn't unnerving. The sunset faded into the distance with hues of the navy and indigo twilight creating a picture-perfect moment for introspection. Just being beside Kusaka was enough to leave Sawamura content, of course he wanted to know more about her and listen to her sultry voice and sweet laugh, but he wasn't going to force anything. This was a nice way to end his day and he certainly had nothing to complain about. In fact, as Sawamura considered his luck lately, it was quite the opposite.

Kicking a small white pebble with her All Stars, Kusaka couldn't help thinking one thing: why now? They'd been around each other for years yet Sawamura hadn't known she even existed until barely two weeks ago and now he's got her feeling like this? _Now_ she's becoming fascinated by him? _Now_ her heart leaps every time he looks in her direction? She just couldn't wrap her head around why she was beginning to feel this way _now_ of all times.

Kusaka ran a hand through her poker-straight hair and let it fall in whatever directions it chose before tilting her head back to look up at the sky, wanting something else to focus on. The faint outline of the moon beginning to show stood out to her, a reminder of the one thing she'd been pushing to the back of her mind this week. The one thing she felt every single night the moment she walked through her front door; loneliness. Sure, she was starting to make a few friends at school now, but when she laid down in bed each night she still felt an aching emptiness inside her and she was starting to worry that the feeling would never go away.

The hushed sigh that fell inadvertently from Kusaka's lips immediately garnered Sawamura's attention. Looking over at her skyward face, her expression spoke volumes. Her eyebrows were slightly furrowed together, her eyes stormy, and her lips were pursed. "What's on your mind?"

Not taking her eyes off of dusk's blanket above her, she gave a truthful reply, her fingers toying with the plectrum pendant she wore. "Do you think the moon gets lonely without the sun?"

Taken aback by her unexpected response but wanting to give a thoughtful answer, Sawamura hummed and observed the object of her attention. "Maybe for a while, but it's not alone for long."

"What do you mean?"

"The moon might appear alone, but there are countless stars shining around it that are only visible after the sun fully sets."

"So you're saying the sun is the lonely one," she mused, mulling over the new perspective he'd shown her.

"The sun has the birds singing to it every day. It can't be that lonely, can it?"

"Just because the birds are singing, doesn't mean they understand."

Sawamura brought his gaze back to her, grasping the sentiment behind her words. "Sometimes they don't have to understand, they just have to be there and try, hoping that it's enough."

"What if it's not?" Her voice was merely a whisper slipping past her lips, tugging at Sawamura's heart.

"Then they get to try again tomorrow."

Kusaka's eyes flickered over to the man beside her, his softened features showing her support she hadn't felt before. "It's okay to feel like the sun, Kusaka-san," he murmured as their hands brushed against each other, leaving a wave of pins and needles in its wake. "There will be birds around to sing to you."

Biting on the inside of her cheek, she nodded. "I hope you're right, Sawamura-san."

"I am," his eyes crinkled as he smiled. "Don't forget that you're surrounded by an abundance of crows."

The girl shook her head softly as she raised her hand to hide the smile she felt creeping up. Sawamura was quick to lift it away, bringing it down to her side where he struggled with the idea of lacing his fingers with hers but ultimately let her hand slip from his grip, afraid he'd scare her away if he tried.

With crimson cheeks, Kusaka let him witness the curve of her lips; he'd earned it after all. "Thank you."

"No problem," he bumped her shoulder playfully with his own. "Anything for the sun."


	11. Little Sparrow

"You're here early."

"I figured you'd be awake anyway, Jii-chan, but I can leave if you'd prefer," Daichi smirked as he stuck his thumb out towards the door.

"And leave my favourite grandson to his girl troubles on his own?" The elder smiled knowingly. "Hardly seems like the right thing to do since you're mainly here to see her and not me."

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong. I'm here to see both of you."

"Daichi, I may be old, but I'm not stupid," Hisao chuckled and motioned for his grandson to take a seat in the chair across from him while he glanced out the window at the morning sun. "So, did you end up scaring her off last week with your little move, lover boy?"

"A little," he admitted, thinking back to earlier in the week before visions of her smile from yesterday played behind his eyes like a movie. "But not for long."

"Interesting," the old man rubbed his chin. "So you're making progress then, yes?"

"I think so...but she's also friends with a first-year on my team and I can't tell if he's actually interested in her or if he's just messing with me. And then there's also this other guy she knows and it's obvious that he likes her," Daichi groaned as he pulled his hands down his cheeks. "So I don't even know if I actually have a chance or if I'm just hopeless."

Hisao hummed as he studied the apprehension written on Daichi's face. "Does any of that matter if she doesn't reciprocate their feelings?"

"I don't know...it might. I mean, her friend is in university and plays guitar in her band. He knows her way better than I do, how could I compete with that?"

"Daichi," Hisao's voice came out firmly in an effort to disrupt his negative train of thought. "Comparing apples to oranges is going to get you nowhere. Do you like her?"

Looking out the window at the trees blowing in the breeze, the younger Sawamura nodded. "It's impossible not to."

"Then get your head out of your ass. You're a Sawamura!" Hisao leaned over and smacked his grandson's shoulder. "Act like it!"

Daichi chuckled while he rubbed his arm. "And how do you suggest I do that, wise old Ojiisan?"

"Buck up! Ask her on a date! Clearly those other potential suitors of hers haven't got the guts to do that, so maybe it's time for you to grow a pair and show her you're interested."

"We only met a few weeks ago, I hardly think she'd accept a request for a date."

"Hmm," the elder stroked his chin. "If you're too big of a pansy to ask her on a _real_ date, then why don't you just make plans with her."

"Still sounds like a date, Jii-chan," Daichi rolled his eyes.

"Don't roll your eyes at me, Daichi," he tutted. "How else do you intend on getting to know her? Staring at her with googly eyes in class isn't going to get you anywhere."

"What if she says no? If it's too soon a-"

"What if she says yes?" Hisao countered with a raised eyebrow. "And when did you get so whiny? Sheesh, it's like listening to your father when he was your age. I thought you'd be different."

"You know, I-"

The sound of a peppy female voice had Daichi pause mid-sentence and drew his eyes to the door. "So then Oikawa told me to come to his next practice too!"

"That's great, Maeda-san," Kusaka's uninterested tone matched her bored expression as they entered the room and approached the linen closet.

Daichi's face lit up with a smile as his eyes landed on her, seeing her in casual clothing once again was a treat to him, a glimpse further into knowing her outside of school. Even if it was just skinny jeans and a t-shirt, he couldn't help but think she looked great.

After catching the look on his grandson's face, Hisao cleared his throat to gain both girls' attention. "What a pleasant surprise to see the chatterbox and her perpetually unenthused friend again, Daichi."

"Jii-chan, be nice," Daichi sighed, giving Kusaka an apologetic smile.

"I'm always nice," the elderly man chuckled.

Kusaka gave a small wave to both Sawamura's before she began to load clean sheets and towels into the closet. Maeda, however, couldn't help but try and strike up a conversation. "How are you two this morning?"

"Better now," Hisao smirked, elbowing his grandson. "Isn't that right, Daichi?"

"Hah," he rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassment creeping up his cheeks. "Um, yeah. How's your shift so far?"

"Good!" She beamed, happy to have his attention. "Almost over though, so I certainly can't complain."

"Great," Daichi smiled politely at Maeda, though his eyes flickered back to Kusaka and everyone except the girl in question noticed.

Knowing that waiting for his grandson to make a move on his crush with an audience was like waiting for a watched pot to boil, his lips pulled up into a kind smile and he called out to Maeda. "Oh, Miss Chatterbox. Would you mind helping me fetch a few items from the supply room please?"

The blonde smiled and nodded, "Of course, sir."

"Saka-chan, wait here for a few minutes, okay? We'll be back in a bit."

Hisao walked over to the girl and when he held out his arm to her she laughed, wrapping hers around it. "What a gentleman."

The click of the door shutting drew Kusaka's attention away from her task and she glanced at Sawamura. "Why did they shut the door? That's kinda weird..."

"Habit on the old man's part, probably," Sawamura shrugged, though he knew that likely wasn't the actual reason.

"Oh," she hummed, latching the linen closet shut and turning to lean against it. "Makes sense I guess."

Gesturing over to the chair his grandfather had previously occupied, Sawamura stood. "If you're waiting for Maeda-san, you should have a seat."

The brunette accepted his offer and crossed one leg over the other as she situated herself. Feeling a bit awkward, she scratched her cheek and looked over at him. "So um, you two are close?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "He watched me and my siblings a lot when we were little so we grew pretty attached to having him around."

Kusaka tilted her head softly to the left. "You have siblings?"

"Mhmm," he smiled. "A sister and a brother, both are younger. "

"It must be nice to watch them grow up," she replied thoughtfully.

"Sometimes," Sawamura laughed. "They're good kids but I'd be lying if I said they don't test my patience some days."

A small smile tugged up her lips. "It was good practice for being a team captain, I'm sure."

"Definitely. My dad used to be able to switch from happy and laughing to stern and serious in an instant. After he passed, it took me a while to realize that I did the same thing when I was trying to reign in those two monsters... turns out that it also works for most of the team so it ended up being a pretty good method."

Hearing Sawamura so casually bring up his father's passing surprised Kusaka. He was such an outgoing person, so friendly and happy, it caught her off guard to hear he'd dealt with something like losing a parent. A line creased her forehead as she thought of her father, something she'd been trying to avoid lately as it only made her feel more alone.

"I can't remember my dad ever being stern with me," she looked down at her clasped hands. "He would just give this... this _disappointed_ smile and explain why what I did wasn't okay. My mom on the other hand..." Kusaka rolled her eyes as she recalled her last real argument with her mother. "When Dad was still here, she was the _true_ disciplinarian. But after he um... she ended up adopting his technique. Though she doesn't really have to use it now."

Sawamura hadn't anticipated hitting a sensitive topic for her and internally he cursed himself for upsetting her. "I'm sorry, Kusaka-san," he leaned forward and placed a hand gently on top of the ones clasped in her lap. "I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."

"They weren't bad memories," the brunette forced her lips into a smile as she ignored the burning of tears behind her eyes. "It's important to remember them. It's just been a while since I let myself do it."

"I get that," he confided, giving a gentle squeeze to her hands as he focused on them. "It's only been the past year or so that I've been able to talk about him without getting upset. My brother and sister were still really young when our dad died. Now that they're getting older they're asking more questions about him and I'm forced to adjust."

"That must be hard," she whispered, pursing her lips as a tear escaped the corner of her eye. "I can't imagine having to talk about it all the time."

"Some days are harder than others," Sawamura took a deep breath and let his eyes raise to Kusaka's, only to find her staring out the window, a single tear trailing down her cheek. Dragging his chair close enough to hers that their knees now touched, he raised his hand to cup her cheek, softly running his thumb across her smooth skin to wipe away her tear. "It won't stop hurting, but it will get easier to talk about. I'm sorry, Kusaka-san."

Closing her eyes to focus on the tenderness of his touch, Kusaka leaned into the warmth of his hand with a heavy heart. Another tear fell from her eye and was quickly wicked away by Sawamura, his thoughtfulness not going unappreciated. After a long moment, she took a deep breath and lifted her hand to cover his, tucking her fingers underneath his to guide it away from her face and lay it atop his knee.

"I'm sorry," she sniffled a quiet laugh. "I didn't mean to cry. God, that's embarrassing."

"Not embarrassing," he smiled. "It's okay. I'm flattered you trust me enough to talk about these kinds of things, even if only a little."

"Of course you'd find a positive way to look at it," she smirked. "Nakano was right."

Hearing the name of the one person he was truly concerned about when it came to her, he couldn't help but push her to elaborate. "He was right about what?"

"He refers to you as Mr.Positivity," she shrugged. "Guess he had a spot on first impression, huh?"

The notion that Kusaka spoke about him with her friends made his smile widen, hopeful that it was all good things. "I'll gladly accept that as a nickname," he chuckled. "Though I was kind of hoping that you might be open to changing how you address me?"

"Oh, so you'd prefer me to call you Mr.Positivity then?" Kusaka teased, growing a bit more comfortable with him as she tried to shake off her moment of weakness.

Sawamura's head tilted down as he rubbed the back of his neck and sheepishly looked up at her through his eyelashes. He knew they hadn't known each other for very long, but he hoped she'd be willing to accept his request; he longed to hear his name spoken by her.

"I'd prefer it if you used my name... if you feel comfortable with that, of course. I've never really been one for honorifics with the people I'm close with."

Biting down on her bottom lip as her stomach erupted with a kaleidoscope of butterflies, she nodded. "If you're sure that's what you want."

"Of course I'm sure, Kusaka-san," he smiled sweetly. "Wouldn't have asked if I wasn't."

"I, um," Kusaka felt her cheeks warming as she spoke, glancing down at her lap only to remember that they were seated so close that their knees were touching. "I guess it's okay if you wanted to do the same," she peeked back up at him. "Use my name, I mean."

"Oh..." Sawamura forced his smile into a frown.

Her eyes widened, worried that she had misread the situation. "I-if you're not okay with it then don't. I-I just thought that since you wanted me to use your given name that you might also want to use mine."

"I do. It's just that now I have to try and remember what it is."

"Oh," she squeaked, and just as Kusaka was about to reply, he cracked a huge grin and laughed.

"How could you actually think I'd have forgotten your name, Suzume?! Of course, I remember it," he chuckled as she leaned forward and swatted his arm.

"Didn't realize you were also a jerk," she teased, leaning back into her seat with puffed-out cheeks.

"I'm just messing with you," he poked her cheek and her lips fell into a childish pout. "I could never forget such a well-suited name."

"What do you mean?"

"You're a great singer which means you're living up to your songbird namesake, Little Sparrow. That's gotta be good luck or something, right?"

"Maybe," she rolled her eyes while she smiled. "You don't need to read into it _that_ much, Daichi."

Feeling his heart skip a beat as he heard his name fall so effortlessly from her lips, Sawamura grinned from ear to ear, only tearing his gaze away from her when someone cleared their throat.

What neither of them had noticed, was that Hisao and Maeda had been gone for more than just a few minutes. Of course, it only took them a short time to reach the supply room and when prompted for what he needed, the man had simply shrugged and admitted that he merely wanted to give the two a bit of time alone.

Naturally, this had Maeda cackling. It was obvious to her that Sawamura was interested in her friend and she figured she'd be doing them _both_ a favour if she just hung back with Hisao for a bit. It wasn't like they had much time left on their shift anyway – she didn't see the harm.

After giving the two high school seniors a solid fifteen minutes of privacy, Hisao and Maeda headed back to the room – only to run into Kusaka's mother just before making it to their destination.

"Oh, Maeda-chan. Have you seen Suzume? We were supposed to meet up about five minutes ago and she hasn't shown up yet. That daughter of mine is never late..."

"Oh, uhh," the blonde glanced over at the elderly man by her side and he smiled politely, motioning to his room a few doors down.

"Forgive me. I'm playing matchmaker for a little bit today. We were just coming back to see how things went."

Emiri lifted an eyebrow at the old man. "You're trying to set my daughter up with someone?"

"My grandson," he confirmed with a smile. "He's quite taken with her."

"Interesting," the brunette smirked, lifting her hand to stroke her chin as if she had a beard. Her eyes flickered over to Maeda. "And is the feeling mutual, Maeda-chan?"

"I think so, but I'm not quite sure. You know how she is," the girl shrugged. "It's like pulling teeth to get her to actually talk most days."

Emiri hummed in understanding. "Well, you know what they say...the proof is in the pudding."

Curiosity got the best of the mother and she approached Sawamura's door, peeking into the rectangular window that was set into the middle of it, her smile grew. She watched as her daughter's puffed cheeks were deflated by a poke of the boy's finger, turning into a playful pout. The pout was very short-lived, as whatever he had said to her worked well enough to bring a smile back to her lips.

Emiri quietly turned the knob of the door and leaned in the doorway after opening it, clearing her throat to announce her presence. Both sets of eyes landed on hers and though one was confused, that wasn't for very long.

" _M-mom?_ " Kusaka grimaced, her already rosy cheeks flaring a deeper shade as she glanced up at the clock and pushed her seat back enough to disconnect from Sawamura and stand up. "Sorry, I lost track of the time."

"Apparently," Emiri smirked, her eyes flickering over to Sawamura who stood the moment Kusaka did. "And who might you be?"

"Daichi Sawamura," he bowed respectfully before straightening up and sending her a sheepish smile. "I'm sorry to have inconvenienced you."

"You clearly haven't inconvenienced my daughter," she chuckled light-heartedly. "So I'll let it slide this time, Sawamura-kun."

Maeda and Hisao shared a laugh at both Kusaka and Sawamura's expense as they stood behind Emiri, gaining Kusaka's attention. She leaned to the side to look at the girl and sighed. "Maeda-san, what have you done?"

"I didn't do anything, Saka-chan," the blonde giggled. "The real question is what did _you_ do?"

Kusaka groaned in embarrassment as she slid her hands down her cheeks, her reaction earning a chuckle from Sawamura as well. "Take a deep breath," he advised, elbowing her side.

"Easy for you to say, Daichi," she grumbled.

" _Daichi?"_ Three amused voices reiterated and Emiri glanced over her shoulder at Hisao, who was grinning proudly at his grandson, glad that the fifteen minutes he'd gifted the boy hadn't gone to waste.

"Alright, lovebirds. Time is up," Emiri motioned to the hall. "We've got a date with some waffles, Suz. Let's head out."

"Right, sorry," Kusaka nodded, giving Sawamura an apologetic smile before following her mother out the door.

After the mother and daughter were out of the room and down the hall, both Maeda and Hisao waited expectantly for information. "Well?"

"Well, what?" Daichi shrugged, knowing full well what his grandfather was getting at.

"Did you ask her on a date?" Hisao prompted with a smile, assuming that he had.

"Nope."

The old man's smile fell. "What do you mean, no? What happened then?"

"We just talked," he ran a hand through his hair as he looked away. "Mind your own business, old man."


	12. A Daichi-Induced Raging Blush

As Kusaka tapped her fingers gently atop the table at the diner she and her mom frequented most Saturdays, she hoped that the woman had forgotten about Sawamura. He hadn't been mentioned at all since they left the nursing home and she _really_ wanted to avoid that conversation.

But of course, Emiri was simply waiting for the right moment.

"So..." The older woman started.

During the moment that she took to lift her cup of coffee to her lips and take a sip, Suzume chanted in her head: _Please don't bring up Daichi. Please don't bring up Daichi. Please don't bring up D-_

"Daichi, huh?"

Suzume sighed. She knew her silence on the topic was too good to be true. "What about him?"

"You seem... _interested_ , to say the least."

"Mooom," the girl groaned, her cheeks beginning to flush.

"He's cute," Emiri smirked. "But I always thought you'd end up with Nakano."

"Yeah right," Suzume scoffed. "He'd drive me insane. We'd be at each other's throats all the time."

"In one way or another."

The teenager made a vomiting sound as she rolled her eyes. "No thanks."

"Oh, come on Suz," Emiri's eyes rolled as she spoke. "You can't tell me you don't like him, you guys used to hang out all the time."

"With Endo and Hiroki, yeah. I mean, you might as well ask if I have the hots for all of them if that's all it takes."

"Except only Nakano looked at you like you were God's gift to Earth," the older woman laughed.

"He did not," Suzume waved away the thought, not bothering to believe that it could be the teensiest bit true. "Your eyes are playing tricks on you in your old age."

Narrowing her eyes at her daughter, Emiri cocked an eyebrow. "And yet somehow these old eyes could still see your _Daichi-induced_ raging blush from a mile away."

"It's nothing," she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest defiantly and looking around the dated diner, desperate to focus on anything other than this conversation.

"Nothing my ass," Emiri laughed, nudging her daughter's foot under the table. "Indulge me for once, will you?"

"There's nothing to say," she lied.

"How long have you had a crush on him?"

"I don't." Another lie.

"You do."

"Nope."

"Yep."

"Nuh-uh."

"Yuh-huh."

"No way."

"Yes, way."

"Absolutely not."

"One hundred percent yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"Okay, _fine_ ," Suzume grumbled, knowing that her mother was even more stubborn than she was and their back and forth would never end until she admitted defeat. "I like him, alright? Can we stop talking about it now?"

"Hah! I knew it!" Emiri grinned proudly. "And no way! You're telling me everything, Suz."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am-" the girl sighed. "Why do I even bother with you? I thought I was the kid here."

"I'm young at heart," Emiri shrugged with a smug smile, crossed her arms over the table as she leaned forward. "So how'd you meet him? At the nursing home?"

Suzume ran a hand through her golden brown locks before folding her fingers together on top of the table and staring at them. "He goes to Karasuno too...his grandfather in the nursing home is just a coincidence."

"Do you talk a lot?"

"Not _a lot_...we're still getting to know each other I guess."

Emiri hummed. "And yet you call him by his name?"

The teenager's already pink cheeks grew warmer. "He just asked me to call him that today, actually. That's, um," she bit down on her lip anxiously as she continued to focus her eyes on anything that wasn't her mother. "That's pretty new."

 _Cute._ Emiri smiled softly at her daughter, amused with her current state. "He was polite enough to me, but is he good to you?"

"Yes," Suzume answered much too quickly, not a doubt in her mind. "He's really kind."

"I see," her smile widened. "What else?"

"Mom," Suzume sighed. "Come on, haven't I said enough?"

"Not even close."

"I don't know what you want me to say," she scratched her cheek. "He just... gets to me."

Emiri propped her elbow up on the table and rested her chin in her palm. "How so?"

"He makes me nervous," Suzume admitted. "Like my pulse speeds up and my stomach starts to spin as if I were going into an exam or something...and when he smiles because of something I said I practically get light-headed from all the blood rushing to my damn face," she shook her head with a laugh before holding her warm cheeks in her hands. "It's so embarrassing."

"He does have a nice smile," her mother agreed, the warm fuzzy feeling in her chest taking over as her daughter _finally_ opened up to her about something personal. It had been way too long since Suzume had truly let her in on what life was like for her.

"That's an understatement," Suzume chuckled, waving her hand as she let herself get carried away for the first time in a long time. "He's like a freaking Disney prince! He's way too nice, and Mom, seriously, since when are volleyball players so fit? No wonder Maeda-san is so obsessed with that guy from her school."

Emiri grinned. "You're _so_ into him, kid."

"Ugh," she tossed her head back dramatically, letting it hit against the top of her chair. "I just can't help it. He looks at me and I turn to mush, I hate it. It's so not like me."

"It's not," her mom tittered. "But I like this new you."

"I don't," Suzume grumbled, pulling herself back into a normal position as she heard their server approach.

"You do," Emiri stated matter-of-factly. "I saw how happy you looked when you were with him. Deny it all you want, but we both know it'd be a lie."

Two plates of pancakes were placed in front of them and Emiri thanked their server before she looked back at her daughter. "I like seeing you happy, Suz. I think you should go for it."

"I barely know him, Mom," Suzume pointed out, drizzling syrup over her half-stack.

"Tell me," Emiri prompted, cutting into her fluffy pancakes with the side of her fork. "What _do_ you know about him?"

Thinking back over their previous conversations, Suzume began rattling off the things she'd learned over the past few weeks. "He's crazy good at volleyball and he's obsessed with it. He would probably eat ramen every day if his mom let him, he's always forgetting stuff in his locker, and he acts like everyone's older brother but that's probably because he has two younger siblings."

"Mhmm," Emiri hummed, a quiet indicator for her to continue. "What else?"

"He's a good listener and I never feel like he's judging me so, despite my constant worry of tossing my cookies when he's around, he's not all that difficult to talk to...and um," she bit the inside of her cheek. "He's close with his grandfather but I think that's because his dad, um...passed away too."

Placing her fork down with a soft sigh, Emiri reached out over the table for her daughter's hand, giving it a squeeze. "I'm sorry, sweetheart."

"It's not like it was in your control, Mom," she whispered, picking up her fork to dig into her breakfast and eat her feelings.

"It's comforting to know that you have someone you can talk to about him," Emiri noted. "You never want to anymore..."

"I can't cry forever, Mom."

"You could if you wanted to."

"The point is that I don't want to."

"And you think not talking about your dad is going to make that happen? Look," Emiri smiled sadly. "I know it's hard, and I know that you don't want to make me upset either, but you can't just lock his memory away and think you're going to get over it. It just doesn't work that way."

"I know," Suzume took another bite, the buzz of her gushing over Sawamura vanished into thin air. "But it's not that simple."

"Well," the mother patted her daughter's hand. "Maybe you should try talking to Daichi about it," her lips pulled up into a smirk. "Since he's such a good listener and all."

"I regret telling you anything."

"No, you don't," Emiri chuckled.

"Yep. I definitely do."

"Nah, you loved it," she shrugged. "And for what it's worth, sounds like you know him better than you think you do."

_\---------------------------------------------_

"How are you guys so horrible at this?" Kusaka groaned later that night at band practice.

"Maybe it's because we're hungry," Hasegawa pointed out.

"Yeah, maybe you should get in the kitchen, Zume-chan."

Kusaka's eyes narrowed into a deadly glare at Nakano. "Try again, jackass."

"What? You know all Hiroki can make is grilled cheese sandwiches and Endo and I are practically useless in the kitchen," the guitarist shrugged. "You're the only viable candidate to solve this issue."

"You two aren't only practically useless in the kitchen it seems," Kusaka rolled her eyes. "And what's wrong with grilled cheese sandwiches? Sounds good enough to me."

Hasegawa tossed the drumsticks he was toying with onto the coffee table and stood up, stretching his arms out. "My time has come to show my true worth," he held his hand out to Kusaka. "Come forth and witness a master in action, fair maiden."

Slipping her hand into his and letting him tug her up off the couch as well, the brunette laid her guitar to rest against the table and trekked alongside the drummer to his kitchen.

After gathering the few necessary ingredients, the pair prepped a few sandwiches before turning on the stove and heating up a pan. Claiming the first gooey sandwich for herself, Kusaka popped herself up on the counter beside the stove and took a bite, revelling in its cheesy goodness. "I love these," she mused.

"They are the ultimate comfort food."

"That's ice cream."

"Okay, well, a close second," Hasegawa shrugged.

After indulging in her second bite, the slow tempo he was drumming with his fingers made her smile and she began to sing.

_Grilled cheeeeeeseeee_

_In my mouth_

The drummer laughed, making a biting motion as he moved his face closer to her unattended sandwich.

G _et on your kneeeees_

_If you wanna bite_

_Go fly a kite_

Laughing along with Kusaka as she improvised a goofy song, Hasegawa began to sing a bass line, finishing up the final sandwich and adding it to the stack already plated beside the brunette.

After turning off the stove, Kusaka hopped off the counter and grabbed the plate to bring back to the group, continuing to sing as she did so. Earning a raised eyebrow from Endo, she shrugged and placed the plate on the coffee table before she slumped back into the couch. "You got something better?"

"Well," he took a sandwich off the plate. "No."

"That's what I thought."

"That doesn't mean it was good," Nakano commented mid-chew.

Kusaka picked up her Strat and began to play the rhythm Hasegawa had set and as the drummer ate his sandwich one-handedly, he used the other to tap out a beat with a single drumstick.

"You guys are ridiculous," the guitarist laughed, looking over to Endo for back up only to find the bassist wedging half his grilled cheese into his mouth to free his hand and pick up his instrument.

_It's all about the butter_

_Make one for your mother_

_Then I'll make you another_

_Oh_

_Make me a grilled cheese, please_

Kusaka held back her laughter as she improvised the lyrics, grinning at Nakano defiantly as everyone aside from him jammed along with her slow tempo. He sat back and crossed his arms over his chest, unwilling to cave just for the sake of provoking her – he loved seeing the determined look in her eye when she felt challenged.

Watching the woman he had feelings for sing a ballad about a grilled cheese sandwich probably shouldn't have been as endearing as it was for Nakano, but he found his heartwarming at the sight regardless.

Of course, being the four peculiar and childish people they were, they workshopped their absurdly amusing song to completion over the course of the evening. It was the most fun they'd had in months and when Hasegawa's parents kicked them out at one in the morning, Nakano became the unofficial taxi service for the remaining members of the band and it wasn't long before he had his favourite girl in the bucket seat next to him, the warm glow of passing streetlights periodically illuminating her form.

After Endo was dropped off a lull in conversation fell between Nakano and Kusaka and while Nakano wasn't wholly uncomfortable with silence, he would much rather hear her speak than nothing at all so he tried to strike up a conversation. "How's school? Bored without me?"

"It's okay I guess," she shrugged, glancing over at him. "It's still weird practicing after school without you guys but who knows, maybe individual practice will be a blessing in disguise or some crap like that."

"Maybe," he nodded. "Or maybe absence will make your heart grow fonder."

Kusaka snorted. "Yeah, alright."

"Hey! I'm not kidding," he laughed. "You don't miss us enough."

"I miss you guys plenty," she waved her hand dismissively. "It's not my fault you're always busy though."

"I'll make time for you whenever, Zume-chan," Nakano quickly peered over at her before bringing his attention back to the road. "Tell me when and I'll be there."

"You make it sound so simple," the brunette rolled her eyes. "It's not that easy. But it's fine, Nakano, you don't need to feel guilty anymore, I think I finally made a few other friends."

"Who? Mr.Positivity?" Nakano frowned, the guy seemed nice enough, but it was obvious to him that he was interested in Kusaka and hearing that they'd been spending more time together wasn't exactly welcomed news.

"Yeah...Daichi and a few others from the volleyball team. They've been pretty nice," she mused, a small smile on her lips just from the mere mention of Sawamura, though it turned into a smirk as she remembered Tsukishima. "Except one, but he's kinda like you. Maybe there are good intentions behind the jerk exterior."

"I'm not a jerk," Nakano tsked. "And you can't just replace us with some volleyball losers, you know."

"No one is being replaced, Baka Naka," she poked his shoulder forcefully before continuing. "And since when are you jealous of me having friends? You guys all have other friends, how is that fair?"

"I'm not jealous," he rolled his eyes despite knowing she was right. "Besides, you didn't need anyone else before."

Kusaka's eyebrows furrowed. "Because my friends were actually around, three sufficed. Now you guys all have other shit to do and I'm just supposed to keep being the weird loner chick?"

"That's like, your schtick though," Nakano teased. "It's good for the band's image."

"You're such an asshole," she grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest as she returned to stare out her window.

Nakano sighed. "Oh come on. I'm kidding!"

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes. "You don't get it, Baka. You're friends with everyone."

Knowing he hit a sensitive spot, Nakano tried to backtrack. "I may be friends with a lot of people but that doesn't mean I'm close with them," he did a quick shoulder-check to switch lanes before continuing. "You never reach out to us though, Zume. How can we be around if you don't tell us you need us?"

"You have school and work and social lives," Kusaka rattled off her list of reasons. "And it's not like you can come hang out with me at lunch or after school. You say to call but if I do, I know I'm interrupting something. I don't want to be that person, you guys will start hating me."

Nakano's eyebrows furrowed while focusing on the turn he was making onto her street. "Is that really what you think?"

"It's true," Kusaka pointed out.

"Suzume, I- _we_ don't see it like that at all," Nakano parked the car and shifted in his seat to face her, his sincerity reflected in his cerulean gaze.

"Because it hasn't happened yet and I won't let it," Kusaka kept her attention on her hands clasped in her lap, hiding behind the curtain of her hair that shielded her as her head hung.

Not being able to resist, Nakano reached out and gently tucked her hair behind her ear. "Hey," he called out softly and she finally peered at him once again. "Call or text me whenever. I meant it when I said it. I promise I won't get mad or hate you. Okay?"

"But wh-"

"Zume-chan," he quietly chuckled. "God, you're so freaking dense sometimes."

"I am not!"

"Are too."

"Am not, jackass."

"There she is," he grinned. "Welcome back."


	13. Absolutely Certain

Glancing at his phone to check the time, Sawamura heaved a sigh before pushing himself away from the wall outside the cafeteria and trailing over to the band room. The closer he got, the more clearly he could hear the melody of an electric guitar, confirming his assumption that Kusaka had gone to her default location for their lunch period.

Giving a quick tap on the door before opening it, Sawamura let himself in and closed it to avoid disrupting others. His softened gaze focused on her and though it had only been one day since he'd seen her, she was truly a sight for sore eyes. "Not feeling up for lunch with us today?"

Kusaka blinked at him as she tilted her head to the side, brushing the hair that fell in front of her eyes to the side. "I didn't realize I was invited."

"What, really? You know you're always invited, right?" Sawamura made his way towards her as she spoke, like a moth to a flame he couldn't be so close and yet so far away.

With each step he took, the tempo of Kusaka's heart increased. She bit the inside of her cheek as she glanced down at the guitar in her hands. "I don't want to make assumptions. The last thing I want is to overstay my welcome."

"Suzume," he smiled sweetly, even just saying her name gave him an overwhelming warmth in his chest. "I love having you around. Suga and Asahi are pretty fond of you too. I think it's safe to say that you're always welcome."

His white and black sneakers came into her line of vision and when they paused in front of her, she looked up at him through her eyelashes with her cheeks as flushed as Red Delicious apples. "Oh."

Rubbing the back of his neck, Sawamura let out a chuckle. "I mean, if you don't want to eat with us that's okay. But don't stay away on our account, it's a standing offer."

"Okay," her lips curved into a soft smile, relieved to hear that not only was she not an imposition, but her presence was also wanted. "Um, thanks, Daichi."

His name spoken by her was music to his ears and the curve painted on her lips was a masterpiece to be admired. "So," he jutted his thumb out towards the door behind them. "Wanna head to the cafeteria?"

Though she would've enjoyed spending more time with Sawamura, she wanted to keep playing; the weight of her Fender felt good in her hands as she continued to pluck a quiet melody. "I think I'm going to stay here this time," she gave a slight shrug and looked down at her guitar. "I'm already all set up."

Sawamura nodded in understanding and after a fleeting moment of disappointment, he realized there was still another option for them to spend time together. "Would it be okay if I stayed as well?"

Kusaka's head tilted to the side. "Don't you want to eat with your friends?"

Slipping his arm out of one strap of his backpack to swing it around to his chest, Sawamura unzipped the largest pocket and pulled out a brown paper bag before sitting down in the metal folding chair across from her. "Is that not what I'm doing now?"

Shaking her head with a silent laugh, Kusaka continued to noodle on her guitar, trying to ignore the feeling of his gaze. As she finger-picked a new melody she began to softly hum, a sound that Sawamura instantly became soothed by.

Unwrapping his sandwich from its waxed paper home, Sawamura took half of it and held out the other half to the brunette. "You didn't bring lunch again, did you, Hummingbird?"

A curious eyebrow raised at the boy before her as she peered up at him and tried to ignore the flutter of her stomach. _"Hummingbird?"_

He shrugged sheepishly, his cheeks tinting the softest shade of pink as he tried to fight off the embarrassment of being too forward. "Sorry, it just seemed fitting," he motioned back to the peanut butter and jelly sandwich portion in his hand. "You should eat though."

"That's, um, fine with me I guess," she replied, referring to the nickname that she wouldn't admit to liking. "And don't worry about me, it's okay. I'm sure you use way more energy and need the fuel."

"Telling me not to worry about you will only make me worry more," Sawamura stated. "I keep an extra protein bar in my bag for backup anyway, so I can snack on that if I get hungry later."

Kusaka accepted his offer with a sigh, making him laugh. "Thank you."

"I'm only taking it so you don't worry. I don't usually eat lunch," she admitted with a half-assed eye roll before taking a bite.

Sawamura, though glad that she was doing something to ease his worries, worried more. "You should though... doesn't your mom make you take anything?"

"She works overnights, so by the time I leave in the morning or come back home she's still asleep," Kusaka's lips curved slightly as she looked down at the sandwich in her hand, trying to distract herself from the thought of what waited for her at home. "You know, this reminds me of a song we just wrote."

A frown flickered across Sawamura's face for a fleeting moment as a vital piece of the puzzle that was Suzume Kusaka was placed on the table, adding depth to a burden he'd hoped his friendship might have been able to lessen. He wanted to find out more, but from the way she'd clearly tried to change the subject immediately after, he knew she didn't want to discuss it further and he wasn't going to force an unhappy conversation on her. Instead, he humoured her.

"A PB&J reminds you of a song?"

Kusaka nodded, taking another bite before replying. "Yep."

"So do I get to hear it?"

"Do you want to?"

"Of course I want to," Sawamura smiled. "I must hear the song my sandwich has reminded you of."

Chewing quickly after shoving the last bite of her sandwich into her mouth in a very unladylike way, Kusaka eagerly positioned her fingers into the right formation on the fretboard and began to play. She knew it was stupid, but she loved the song exactly for that reason. There was no emotional baggage with this song, it was pure silliness, making it enjoyable to play and she was curious to see how Sawamura would react.

As the opening lyric spilled from her lips, Sawamura coughed out an unexpected laugh. His incredulous chuckle made Kusaka slip up as she laugh-sang a few words to him with a goofy grin before mostly regaining her composure, her smile staying perfectly in place.

Sawamura couldn't stop smiling - he didn't want to. Sure, it may have taken a few weeks for her to freely play something for him, but seeing her so happy while she did so made it a million times more lovable. She strummed her final chord and leaned back in her seat with a raised eyebrow. "So? What'd you think?"

"You're amazing," he smiled affectionately.

"It was a group effort," she shrugged, assuming he just meant that the song was amazing. "I can only take like, twenty-five percent of the credit for that."

"Which twenty-five percent are you taking credit for?"

"The vocals and lyrics," Kusaka hummed. "You should hear it all put together though, sounds way better with bass and drums."

"It sounds great without, too," he laughed. "But yeah, I'd love to hear it all put together. Do you have any shows coming up?"

The girl's shoulders slumped while she let out a quiet sigh. "We used to sign up for Open Mic Night at Reckless Coffee, but it's been a while since everyone's been free on a Thursday evening..." Kusaka thought back to her conversation the other day with Nakano, her fingers running loosely through her hair as she did so. "But maybe this week will be different."

"I bet that'd be lots of fun," he smiled. "You should definitely try to make it work if you enjoy it."

"Yeah," she hummed. "Maybe I will."

"Maybe?" Sawamura questioned. "What's stopping you?"

"I don't know," she rubbed the back of her neck. "I just don't like bugging the guys. They've got their own stuff going on now."

"Don't they enjoy playing as well?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

Seeing her train of thought, the male jumped in before she could doubt herself any further. "Then it hardly seems like bothering them if it's something they like, don't you think?"

"I..." Kusaka sighed before chucking her guitar pick at his chest. "I hate that you're right all the time."

Sawamura chuckled and picked up the cherry red plectrum that landed on his lap, holding it in his palm and offering it back to her. Just as her fingers grazed his palm to retrieve it, he closed his hand around hers. "We both know I'm not right all the time," his eyes held onto hers with a magnetic grip. "But for what it's worth, I think you should chase what makes you happy, Suzume. The worst thing they can say is no, right?"

With a blush spreading across her cheeks, Kusaka nodded. Her gaze studied his intently and the fluttering of her stomach only increased when his eyes crinkled in the corners while a soft smile tugged up his lips. She couldn't feel how fast his pulse was racing, but if she had, she might have felt more confident knowing that it wasn't just _her_ who felt so affected by _his_ presence. She might have realized that time diminished for him as well, both experiencing each innocent touch as a moment in slow motion.

"Right," she swallowed thickly, breaking from his gaze and regrettably slipping her hand from his, every nerve ending in her fingers sparking as her skin dragged across his in the process.

"I'll text them now before I can change my mind."

"That's a great idea," Sawamura confirmed, feeling a flush rise to the surface of his cheeks not only from the fleeting moment they'd just shared but also for what he was about to say. "Maybe after you can send one to me, too."

Slipping her phone out of her pocket, Kusaka blinked at the man in front of her. "Are you asking for my number?"

"Uh, yeah," he shrugged sheepishly, his hand slipping behind his neck while he maintained eye contact, desperately hoping he wasn't making a fool of himself. "I am."

Kusaka bit back her smile as she looked down at her phone, sending a quick text in the Bad Luck Club group chat.

 **SlightlySuz**  
Thursday night - Reckless?

Minimizing the conversation, the brunette pulled up her contacts app and tapped 'create' before handing her phone over to Sawamura.

His fingers purposefully grazed hers as he took the device from her, quickly keying in his information when a notification banner showed a preview of a response from the chat she had posted in.

 **DokiDokiRoki**  
YEAH!

Sawamura smiled at the sight, but once he registered the person's nickname in the chat, he felt his stomach drop. While he wasn't sure if it was a nickname bestowed upon this person or not, it posed a question he hadn't really considered - _was she single?_

Sure, it was obvious to him that Nakano was interested in her and possibly Tsukishima as well, but that didn't actually mean anything. She wasn't clingy or overly affectionate with either one of them so he had naturally assumed she was unattached, but she had other friends who didn't attend Karasuno...

"Is something wrong?" Kusaka questioned, noticing his fading smile as he stared blankly down at her phone.

 **TheBestFriEndo**  
Alright, which one of you adjusted the permissions to let Hasegawa change nicknames again?

 **VolcaNakano**  
He said he had some cool ideas...

 **TheBestFriEndo**  
And you believed him?

With a shake of his head during a breath of relief after seeing the additional notifications flash across the screen, Sawamura handed back her device. While the messages were relieving, the answer to the question as a whole was still unknown and well, he needed to know but he had no clue how to ask. Especially when he was afraid of what the answer could be.

While he chewed on his jealous, anxiety-ridden thoughts, Kusaka couldn't help her worry as well, but sent Sawamura a text as he had requested so that he had her number as well.

 **Unknown Number**  
You okay?

Feeling his phone vibrate in his pocket, Sawamura pulled it out and smiled softly before sending a reply, despite her being a mere foot away.

 **Daichi**  
Of course I am- you're here.

Kusaka blushed at his reply, nibbling on her bottom lip while she anxiously waited for him to peer back up at her. "You're sure you're okay though? You just got quiet all of the sudden," the brunette's eyes widened as she considered that maybe he was regretting giving her his number and she stuttered in continuation. "I-if you want me to delete your number I can. It's okay if you changed your mind, I wouldn't want to bother you o-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Sawamura waved his hands in front of his chest, her insecurity catching him off guard. "I'm sorry I worried you, it's nothing like that."

Chewing on the inside of her flaming cheek, Kusaka nodded, her gaze falling to the guitar resting on her lap. Letting her fingers fall back into playing position, the tips ghosted over the strings, a silent melody yet to be completed by pure muscle memory.

After taking a deep breath, Sawamura ran a hand through his hair. The atmosphere in the room had taken a complete turn and knowing that he had inadvertently spurred this insecurity within her to appear, he needed to fix it somehow.

"Hey, Suz?"

She hummed and glanced up at him, the uncertainty in her gaze tugged at his heart."Yeah?"

"I heard that Enomoto-sensei might give us a pop quiz tomorrow," he stretched out his foot to tap on the top of her shoe. "Feel up to getting in some studying with me after practice?"

"Really?"

"Yeah. Suga overheard him talking with another teacher earlier. It'd be a bit foolish not to study knowing that, even if it is just a rumour."

"Agreed," she began to let her strumming hand connect with the strings rather than hover millimetres away, the hushed tones of her electric guitar beginning to reverberate throughout the room.

Sawamura smiled. "So you'll join me?"

"If you're sure you want to study with me."

"Absolutely certain," he confirmed. "I can swing by here to grab you after practice wraps and we can study at my place for a bit."

The idea of being in Sawamura's house made her anxiety skyrocket. "I don't want to inconvenience your family or anything, Daichi..."

"You will be a welcome presence, I promise," he reached out and gingerly patted her knee. "And don't worry, I'll protect you from that pair of monsters at all costs."

Sawamura's joke landed exactly as expected, earning a quiet laugh and an eye roll from Kusaka, breaking the tension that had quickly commanded the room and bringing it back to normal. "How noble of you."

"I do what I can," Sawamura shrugged, his smile growing wider as she began to play another song. "What song's up next, Hummingbird?"

Kusaka raised an eyebrow, her smile fading into a smirk that made his heart pitter-patter. "What makes you think you get to hear another?"

"It's not a concert if it's only one song."

"One song is still a performance," Kusaka pointed out, looping back to the beginning of the song.

Sawamura grinned and lifted his hands to surround the sides of his mouth as he tilted his face upwards to avoid shouting directly into her face. "Encore!"

"Alright, alright," she let out an amused chuckle. "You win this time, Daichi."

Settling himself more comfortably in his seat, Sawamura couldn't stop smiling as she played for him. It wasn't because she was a great musician - though in his opinion she was - it was that despite the aloof persona she often put forward, and in defiance of the bashfulness she'd shown over the past few weeks, she looked indisputably content.

Kusaka's shoulders held no awkward tension, her facial features were relaxed, and her attention had been fully focused on her instrument until she noticed Sawamura's foot tapping along to the beat out of the corner of her eye. Her gaze flickered up, immediately connecting with his; the admiration Sawamura felt radiated off of him unmistakably, leaving Kusaka with a stomach full of flapping butterflies yet again.


	14. Not A Date

Changing into his school uniform at an inhuman speed in the club room inadvertently alerted most of Karasuno's boys' volleyball team to Sawamura's plans. Or at least, a part of his plans.

"Putting in some face time with your girl tonight, Daichi-san? Hot date, perhaps?" Tanaka questioned with a laugh, watching as the brunette quickly threaded the buttons on his white shirt. "Make sure you don't miss a button."

"Not a date. Just studying," he confirmed, glancing down at his shirt to make sure that he hadn't _actually_ missed a button.

"Oooh, a _study_ date," Nishinoya gave his captain a thumbs up. "That's like, the best kind of date. Barely any pressure and you've already got a default topic to talk about!"

"It's not a date," Sawamura reiterated. "No way would I let our first date be at my house with the two gremlins running around."

"So then where will you study without them?" Sugawara chimed in. "It's no secret that Atsuko is a chatterbox, she'd be pretty distracting to someone who can't tune her out."

"My room, I guess," Sawamura shrugged.

A resounding chorus of _Oooh's_ teased him in response before the vice-captain could razz him further. "Bringing a girl to your room before you've even taken her on a date? And here I thought you were a gentleman."

Sawamura rolled his eyes while the team continued to taunt him, Tanaka making a kissy sound before commenting, "Don't forget to use protection!"

"I doubt he'd get that far with her," Tsukishima turned to Tanaka and commented dryly. "Kusaka-san has a brain, which means it's probable that she has higher standards for a suitor."

Sawamura rolled his eyes at the comment while slipping his backpack over his shoulder, deciding against putting his uniform jacket on because it would only take longer, opting to carry it instead.

"Are you just gonna take that, Daichi-san?" Tanaka guffawed. "Come on, man! You gotta defend yourself or something!"

"Tsukishima's right, she probably does have high standards" Sawamura shrugged, shutting his locker before he faced his teammate. "I hope she does. She deserves the best."

"That's respectable," Azumane hummed.

Tanaka rubbed his shaved head before placing both hands prominently on his hips. "I can't argue with that kind of manliness."

"It's not manliness, it's decency," Tsukishima pointed out. " _Basic_ decency."

"If I try hard enough, maybe I can become someone worthy of her time," Sawamura glanced at the tall blond as he continued, approaching the door. "I'm not willing to become complacent."

With that, he took his leave and began walking briskly in the direction of the band room. As he grew near, the silence became worrisome. Did she forget their plans? Had she already gone home for the day?

Poking his head into the open doorway, Sawamura breathed a sigh of relief as his eyes landed on the beautiful brunette slouching over a notebook at Arimoto's desk, her hair acting as a curtain blocking out the majority of her surroundings; including him. Treading over to where she was situated, Sawamura was amused that she was so focused that she still hadn't noticed him.

It wasn't until she felt the weight of his hand on her shoulder as he softly called out her name that her heart jump-started and she instantly scrambled to flip her notebook over so he couldn't read what was on the page.

"Holy shit, Daichi," Kusaka breathed out in exasperation as she glanced up at him. "Give a girl some warning next time, will you?"

"You got it," he chuckled, though the fact that she had so desperately hidden what she was writing from him piqued his curiosity. "What are you working on, Hummingbird?"

"Nothing," she answered much too quickly, leaning over to grab her messenger bag and plop it on top of the table.

"Doesn't sound like it's nothing," Sawamura teased.

"Don't worry about it," she mumbled, shoving her notebook into her bag before securing the large flap's buckle.

"Aw come on," he playfully poked her rosy cheek as he admired her blush. "You know I'll worry more when you tell me not to worry."

"You can listen when it's ready to be heard," she swatted away his hand and pushed her seat back to stand up, poking his cheek back once she was on her feet. "Until then, don't worry about it."

Sawamura smiled at her and swiped her bag off the desk, pulling it into place across his shoulder as she threaded her arms through her guitar case's straps. "So it's a new song then?"

"Yep," Kusaka glanced at her bag hanging from his shoulder. "Thanks, Daichi, but I can carry that."

"I'm sure that guitar is heavier than it looks," he shrugged. "I don't mind."

"It's not that bad," she commented as she held her hand out expectantly, waiting for him to return her bag.

Sawamura grabbed her hand and began to tug her away from the desk, towards the door. "I'm glad it's not that bad. But we're headed to the same place, so you might as well let me carry this."

"You don't have to," she sighed, ignoring the racing of her heart as she let him lead her out of the room.

"I know," his lips curved as he peered down at her affectionately. "I want to."

Once they reached the hall, Kusaka had anticipated Sawamura would let go of the hand he'd impulsively grabbed and when he did, a quiet, disappointed sigh escaped her lips unexpectedly. Though Sawamura didn't mention it for the sake of saving her the embarrassment, it gave him a boost of confidence that he very much needed to settle the nerves his team had stirred up.

This wasn't a date. Or at least, he didn't intend it to be one...but did she think it was? He certainly didn't want to make things awkward by asking if she thought it was a date, but he couldn't stop his thoughts from snowballing, leaving him silent as they walked through the halls.

Kusaka quickly peeked up at Sawamura, the pensive expression on his face much more intimidating to her than his usual resting smile. "Is something wrong, Daichi?"

Her melodic voice brought him out of his head and he shook it side to side before giving her a sheepish smile. "I'm sorry, I was just lost in thought for a minute there."

"That's okay," she replied, biting the inside of her cheek as she tried to strike up a conversation, something she wasn't very well versed at. "How was practice?"

"Great," he smiled, leaning closer to her to bump her shoulder with his. "I'd ask you how yours was but you told me not to worry about it."

"Hah," she laughed half-heartedly. "Yeah... I was just working on something new."

"That's exciting though," he mused. "Does it usually take a long time for you to write a song?"

"Lyrics, no," she hummed, thinking more seriously about her process only to have her thoughts interrupted by Sawamura's hand brushing against the top of hers due to how close together they were walking. She looked down at the tiled linoleum beneath her feet as a distraction from the racing of her heart.

"Inspiration finds me pretty quickly these days."

"That must feel satisfying," Sawamura mused, extending his arm forward to open the door and letting her pass through first.

"It is," she nodded. "Everything else is what's challenging for me though."

The male cocked his head to the side as he glanced down at her, admiring the way the warm tones of the setting sun enhanced the natural glow of her skin. "Challenging in a good way?"

"Mostly," she laughed. "Sometimes it can be frustrating, especially when the guys and I aren't all on the same page."

"Collaborating in a creative way must be quite difficult."

"It's usually just Nakano and me who come up with songs and we generally have an idea or sound in mind before we bring it to the band," she explained, tucking her hair behind her ear as she looked up at him. "Then we kinda just... workshop that idea and let it evolve until we're happy with it."

Kusaka's hand fell back to her side and once again their hands teasingly grazed each other, the unintentional touch driving her crazy as she began to remember the feel of her hand in his during the few fleeting moments they'd previously shared.

"That's pretty interesting," Sawamura hummed, the electricity from their passing touch still crackling atop his nerve endings.

"Not really," Kusaka chuckled softly. "I'm sure it's pretty dull to think about the mechanics of it all."

Though Sawamura had noticed the space between them diminishing, Kusaka hadn't realized that she had been periodically shifting closer as they walked and they were almost to the point of walking shoulder to shoulder. Of course, with such little distance, their hands for the umpteenth time had brushed against each other and Sawamura couldn't stand it any longer, he needed to bite the bullet.

Without warning, his fingers slipped between hers while his thumb naturally found its way to the top of her hand, securing them together. With a hitched breath, Kusaka stared down at their clasped hands, a firetruck red blush illuminating her face from the gesture. Despite the fact that her heart was trying to break a world record, her lips curled upward.

Though Kusaka was quick to turn her head and face the other way while she tried to compose herself, Sawamura had already focused on her and caught her genuine reaction. Tenderly rubbing several small circles onto her smooth skin with his thumb, he continued to make conversation in an effort to put her at ease.

As Kusaka came _mostly_ to her senses, she finally caught on to the route they were taking. "Are we still studying today?"

"Mhmm," Sawamura nodded before glancing down at her with a slight concern. "Unless you don't feel up to it anymore?"

"I do, it's just, um," she rubbed the back of her neck with her free hand. "This is the way to my house."

Lifting his finger to point at a house just up the street. "I live in that one with the brown trim around the windows."

"Oh," she squeaked. "Sorry... I didn't realize we lived so close to each other."

Sawamura squeezed her hand gently in reassurance. "Only about a block away, as it turns out."

"Weird," Kusaka mumbled.

He let out a quiet chuckle. "If you think that's weird, just wait until you meet th-"

"Nii-chan!" A young boy bound towards them with a volleyball in his hands. It slipped away from him right before he made it over to them and Kusaka smiled, sliding her hand away from Sawamura's in order to bend down and pick up the ball that was about to roll past on her right.

Holding out the ball to the boy, he exhaled a polite thank you before taking it and looking up to his brother with excited eyes. "Nii-chan! Come practice with me, I need you to toss!"

"Why don't you ask Atsuko-chan to toss for you tonight? I've gotta study for a test."

The boy's smile faded and he sighed. "But Nee-chan can't help me get better."

"Practice will help you become a stronger player, Keiji," he placed a heavy hand on his brother's head and roughly ruffled his hair. "I'll give you some pointers tomorrow, okay?"

Keiji looked up at his brother with puppy dog eyes. "Promise?"

"I promise, kid."

With a huff of frustration, the boy turned tail and ran back to the house; the moment he turned away, Sawamura picked up Kusaka's hand once again. She glanced up at him and he shrugged, trying to play it off like it wasn't a big deal while internally he had to keep reminding himself to breathe.

"He seems...energetic," Kusaka pointed out.

"Just wait 'til you meet the other one," Sawamura chuckled, leading her up the driveway towards the front door and opening it for her.

Immediately met with a set of curious brown eyes staring at her from the doorway, a young girl with short brown hair and blunt bangs was quick to speak.

"Who are you?" She tilted her head to the side before she looked to her older brother. "I didn't know you have a girlfriend, Nii-chan. Since when? Why didn't you tell me? I need to know these things!"

Kusaka untangled her fingers from Sawamura's and clasped her hands behind her back as she blushed. Sawamura merely sighed, he knew what to expect, even his mother warned him when he'd called her after class ended to let her know to expect company.

"Suko-chan, this is Kusaka-san."

"She's too pretty to be _your_ girlfriend, Nii-chan," the girl pondered, rubbing her chin as she gave Kusaka a quick once-over before meeting her gaze and loudly whispering to the brunette, "You can do better."

Kusaka laughed and looked over at Sawamura. "I like her."

With a knowing shake of his head, Daichi crossed his arms and looked down at his sister. "I know she is. Now go help Keiji-chan, alright?"

"Ugh, but I don't wanna," she tossed her head back dramatically. "Kusaka-san is much more interesting! I need to tell her all about you so that she doesn't get scared away when you give her that mean dad look."

"Kusaka-san will never be on the receiving end of that look, so you don't need to do any of that."

"But what if sh-"

"Never," he leaned down slightly and placed both hands on Atsuko's shoulders, his expression serious enough that she didn't dare to defy. "Now scram."

The girl sighed but looked over at Kusaka. "We'll talk later."

"Sure, Atsuko-chan," Kusaka winked. "You'll have to fill me in on all of Daichi's secrets."

Atsuko's big brown eyes lit up and she nodded before scurrying away, hoping that the sooner she heeded her little brother's request, the sooner she could talk to Kusaka.

Running a hand through his hair, Sawamura smiled apologetically. "Sorry, we're still working on that whole mental filter thing with her."

"It's no problem," Kusaka shrugged. "Plus, how else will I learn your secrets?"

"You could ask me," he offered freely.

"Okay, tell me a secret."

"I don't have any," he smirked teasingly.

Kusaka swatted his arm as she laughed. "And that is why I'm glad you have a little sister eager to spill the beans."

After hearing the sound of Kusaka's laugh carry into the kitchen, a woman in her mid-forties with her long brown hair pulled back into a French braid, poked her head into the hall and smiled as she saw the pair chatting while they slipped off their shoes.

"Daichi, I've made you two your favourite," she smiled kindly, her eyes lingering on Kusaka for a moment. "Come grab your bowls before they get cold."

Immediately a wave of guilt overcame the brunette and she bowed politely towards Daichi's mother. "I'm sorry to interrupt Sawamura-san, I'll just head home until you're done an-"

"Kusaka-chan, I made some for you as well. Atsuko and Keiji practically live off omurice lately so I fed them earlier," the woman's eyes crinkled softly as she smiled, reminding her of the way that Daichi's did as well when his smile reached his eyes. "And please, call me Maki."

Knowing full well how hard her own mother worked just to keep food on the table for the two of them and although she didn't fully know their situation, she couldn't imagine the burden placed on Maki's shoulders with three children to feed. Knowing that sometimes the difference between one meal could mean someone else wasn't eating the next day placed a burden on her and she didn't want to make anything harder for them. "Maki-san, that's kind of you but I live quite close and it's really no trouble for me to come back."

Maki's lips curled up as she brought her attention to her son, amused by the girl's anxious yet considerate nature. "Is she always like this?"

"Pretty much," Daichi laughed, his hand slipping to the small of Kusaka's back as he gently guided her forward.

A line formed between the girl's eyebrows but she followed Sawamura's lead, not like she had much of a choice in the matter anyway. Grabbing both remaining bowls of shoyu ramen off the counter beside the stove, he travelled to the dining room table where his mother was seated and placed them down before pulling out a chair for Kusaka, who murmured a quiet word of thanks as she took a seat.

"So Kusaka-chan," Maki glanced up from her bowl at the girl. "I hear you're quite the musician."

"O-oh," she stuttered, surprised that the woman had heard anything about her in the first place. "I play guitar but that's about it."

"And you sing," Sawamura added.

"That too," Kusaka nodded.

"That's wonderful," Maki smiled. "It takes a lot of discipline to learn to play an instrument well."

"Or a lot of time," the younger female mused. "Quite different from the kind of dedication it takes to play a sport, though."

Sawamura glanced over at her. "How so?"

"Music is draining on a mental and emotional level, but sports have both of those aspects as well as being physically demanding," Kusaka looked up at Sawamura. "That's got to be exhausting all around."

"I imagine your drummer friend would likely beg to differ, Suzume," he chuckled. "Whenever I see a drummer on stage, they look so intense. And I'm sure your hands and arms get sore from the repetitive motion as well."

"That's true," she sighed with a slight eye roll. "You're right. Hiroki is always pretty spent after practice."

Maki, who hadn't been completely in the dark about her son's crush, found it quite interesting to watch as his mannerisms changed in the slightest ways while the two spoke. Though he was always an attentive listener due to his polite nature, his focus was always on the girl in one way or another.

She hadn't missed his constant glances over at her or the small smiles that brightened his features while she spoke, and she certainly noticed how he subconsciously shifted his weight to the left, leaving less space between them as they were seated at the table.

When Daichi had called his mother that afternoon to confirm it would be alright for Kusaka to join them that evening, he knew the answer would be a resounding yes. Hisao and Maki spoke almost daily and for the past week, he had been pestering her for updates, growing her curiosity each and every time.

Although Maki had noticed the small changes to her son's demeanour, she didn't know enough about Kusaka to tell if it was a mutual crush, so naturally, she had to sway the conversation a little to get a reaction of some kind.

"Hiroki?" Maki hummed. "Sounds like you must be quite close with him."

"He's one of my best friends, a bit of an oddball," Kusaka replied. "He's adamant about us only using his first name because he doesn't think his surname is cool enough for a drummer."

"And how does your boyfriend feel about that?"

Sawamura nearly choked on his noodles, he certainly wasn't expecting that but his widened eyes darted over to his crush to gauge her response, his heart caught in his throat rather than his dinner.

"My w-what?" Kusaka stammered before quickly recovering and waving away the notion. "Honestly, I don't think that it's really fair for someone else to control how I'd address friends."

"He must be a nice guy then," Maki mused, continuing to push the topic further until she got the real answer to her question.

"Oh, I'm not seeing anyone," Kusaka scratched her cheek as she replied. "My mom is just rather committed to drilling it into my head that I should be with someone who lets me make my own decisions since her father was quite controlling and I-" the girl stopped herself, her cheeks beginning to tinge with a pink blush as she realized she was yammering on. "I-I'm sorry, Maki-san. I think I'm oversharing."

"Not at all," the mother smiled, her eyes flickering over to Daichi to catch the relief in his expression. "Although I can't say I'm not surprised, considering Hisao mentioned that you were rather reserved."

Noticing the flicker of confusion across her face, Sawamura leaned closer and explained, "My grandfather. They talk often."

"Oooh, you mean your _Jii-chan_ ," Kusaka teased before nodding to Maki. "I think it depends on the situation, Maki-san."

"Yes, _Jii-chan,_ " Maki laughed softly as she grinned at her son. "He never did grow out of the nickname. It's quite childish if you ask me."

"When Atsu and Kei refer to him as that it's just easier to continue," Sawamura sighed.

"Don't worry, it's sweet," Kusaka patted the hand that rested on the table next to her as she continued to poke fun at him. "If your two younger siblings do it, that _definitely_ means you should do it too."

Maki chuckled as her son's cheeks flushed but decided she'd bugged him enough for one evening and directed the conversation back to a neutral topic. After they'd finished eating, Kusaka offered to clear the table and wash the dishes but the request was quickly denied.

"Don't be silly, Kusaka-chan. You and Daichi need to study, why don't you head upstairs."

The girl nodded and before she had the chance to utter a real reply, Sawamura had picked up her hand and was tugging her away before his mother could add any embarrassing comments. He grabbed their school bags in one swift motion as they passed them and led her up to his room.

Kusaka hesitated at the doorway and when Sawamura felt the resistance of her paused motion, he stopped and faced her. "Sorry...is it weird to be in here? My siblings can be pretty disruptive, but if you feel more comfortable downstairs we can study there instead."

Biting on the inside of her cheek, Kusaka shook her head. "It's okay. Here works."

Assuming she'd feel more relaxed seated at his desk, Sawamura pulled out the chair for her and motioned to it. Taking a seat, Kusaka looked around the room for a long moment, studying the various knickknacks and photos scattered about. The truth of the matter was that she had never been in a boy's room before. Even with Nakano, Endo, and Hasegawa, they were always in shared areas of each other's homes; this was completely new to her. It felt as if she were being let in on a secret, a little piece of Daichi that not everyone was allowed to experience and with that state of mind, it made her feel closer to him. Here she was, in _his_ home, in _his_ space, getting to view the most personal place he occupied.

Pulling his math textbook from his backpack along with his notebook, Sawamura seated himself cross-legged atop his bed and rested his notebook in his lap. "Where should we start, Suzume?"

Blinking her eyes a few times to bring her mind to the present moment, Kusaka dug into her bag and retrieved her books as well, flipping to the chapter they'd been working on in class. "Maybe example three? That one's a bit more complex than the others."

"Good idea," he agreed and flipped to the corresponding page.

The pair continued on, occasionally asking the other a question as they worked on different exercises in the book. After getting stuck on the same equation for the third time, Sawamura scratched the back of his head. He didn't want to seem unintelligent to Kusaka so he stayed silent, but the quiet sigh that fell from his lips a moment later was enough to give away his frustration.

Glancing over her shoulder, Kusaka couldn't help her smile. Sawamura's brows were furrowed and his expression was tense, but the way his lips puckered to the side as he concentrated was adorable. She pushed her chair back and walked over to him, plunking down on his cushiony bed with a respectful distance between them. His eyes flickered over to hers as he glanced up and when she smiled sweetly he exhaled an embarrassed laugh. "I don't know why I can't wrap my head around this one."

Kusaka put more weight on her right arm as she leaned closer to peer at his notebook. Seeing the simple reason he was struggling within the equation, she slipped the pencil from between his fingers and flipped it upside down, erasing what was incorrect.

What she wasn't paying attention to was how closely she had shifted to do so, rendering the distance she had intentionally left pointless. Sawamura felt his heart thumping against his ribcage as she absentmindedly scooched closer, propping herself up by resting against his arm. The scent of her cherry almond shampoo overwhelmed his senses in a soothing way and he found himself letting go of some of the tension in his shoulders.

"There," Kusaka hummed after re-writing the equation on his page. "You just copied down the question incorrectly, Daichi. Easy fix."

"No wonder it wasn't adding up," he replied, the soft rumble of his voice so close to her ear made her stomach flutter and when she tilted her head to look over at him, she finally realized the space between them was merely non-existent.

"Yeah," she mumbled, a blush painting her cheeks as the world spun in slow motion. Their surroundings faded out of focus as their gazes locked onto one another and when one side of Kusaka's bottom lip was anxiously drawn in by her teeth, Sawamura's eyes flickered down. His lips curved into a small smile as he lifted his hand to capture her chin between his thumb and forefinger, her breath hitching the moment he had made contact with her skin.

Kusaka's mind blanked as her eyes slid closed, the pulse in her ears the only thing she could hear as she anticipated her first kiss. There was nothing that Sawamura wanted more at this moment than to share a kiss with her and despite the beautiful girl beside him feeling the same way, the universe had a different plan in mind.

"Niiii-chaaaaaan!" Atsuko's sing-songy voice called out from the bottom of the stairs before a stampede of hurried steps upward followed and Kusaka quickly pulled away, turning away from him to hide the crimson shade she knew she was now sporting.

Sawamura let out an exasperated sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. _Of course, this would happen._

"What is it, Atsuko-chan?"

The girl bound into the room and stood in front of them with a determined smile. "Keiji-chan is done practicing so now I can hang out with Kusaka-san too!"

"We're studying. You two can hang out another day, okay?"

Atsuko looked more studiously at the pair and tilted her head. "Then where are her books?"

Kusaka's lips pursed as she raised her hand to hide the smile felt bubbling to the surface, this girl was too smart for her own good. "They're at the desk," she replied after quickly regaining her composure. "I was just helping your brother with a question."

"Oh," the girl glanced over and confirmed her story. "Well, it's time for you to take a break I bet!"

Glancing out the window, Kusaka noticed the dark blanket that had been pulled across the sky and she rubbed the back of her neck as she looked back at Sawamura. "It's getting late, Daichi. I should probably get going."

Silently damning his sister's timing, Sawamura nodded. "Sure. I'll walk you home, Suzume."

"Me too!"

"No, you won't. It's probably just about time for you to sleep anyway, Suko-chan, isn't it?"

The girl looked down at her feet to avoid her brother's eyes. "Maybe."

Feeling a bit guilty for having told the girl they'd talk later and seeing how dedicated she was to spend time with her, Kusaka wanted to keep her word. She moved further back on the bed until her back reached the wall and she motioned for Atusko to come closer. "I noticed your mom had a really pretty braid. Do you want one too?"

Atsuko nodded, a smile brightening up her expression once again. "Yeah! My hair's kinda short though, I don't think it'll look like hers."

"It'll be the same kind of braid, but it'll be cuter because I'll do two. What do you think?"

"Okay!"

"Perfect, just sit down in front of me here," she instructed.

When Atsuko positioned herself properly, Kusaka combed out the girl's thick hair with her fingers and glanced over at Sawamura. "You don't mind waiting a few minutes, do you, Daichi?"

"No," he shook his head but placed a hand on her shoulder. "But don't feel like you have to."

"I don't," she smiled softly, bringing her attention back to Atsuko's hair and giving a playful tug to the ends. "You owe me some of your brother's secrets, Miss. Get talkin."

"Well," the girl took a deep breath, a smirk tugging up her thin lips as she tried to think of something that would embarrass her brother. "One time I caught him dancing around and singing into a hairbrush like a microphone."

Kusaka chuckled, separating the girl's hair loosely into two sections before beginning to french braid the first. "That's not that bad, I've been known to sing into a few hairbrushes. What else?"

"I don't think he can whistle," she hummed. "And he's a really bad singer."

"That's surprising to hear because he's got such a nice voice, though," Kusaka mused. "Are you sure he wasn't singing badly on purpose?"

"Hmmm," Atsuko tried to turn her head to look at her brother but Kusaka tugged on her hair to keep her in place. "I think so. He sounded like a dying animal, I'm not sure you can fake being that bad."

Kusaka laughed and glanced over at Sawamura, who simply shrugged. After finishing the first braid, she instructed Atsuko to hold the end of it and began working on the other side.

Sawamura's affectionate gaze stayed locked on the pair beside him, his heart melting at an alarming rate while his crush giggled with his sister. He didn't mind that it was at his expense because this was yet another new aspect of Kusaka that he'd never seen before and it only further strengthened his attachment to her.

"Daichi," Kusaka called out softly as she concentrated on braiding the last few strands of Atsuko's hair. He hummed in response and she continued. "Would you mind grabbing two small hair ties for us please?"

"For you two? Anything," he agreed and slipped out of the room to fetch the requested items.

After reaching the bathroom and searching through the medicine cabinet, Sawamura sighed. _Where do they keep those damn things?_

He rustled through the drawers and grumbled with frustration, catching the attention of his mother who was walking past. She paused in the doorway, "What are you looking for?"

"Hair ties?"

"In my room," she directed, waving for him to follow her. "Come with me."

On top of Maki's dresser sat a small wooden box which she opened and presented to her son. "Now why on earth do you need these?"

Daichi smiled at his mother and nodded toward the door, taking the entire box with him since he had no idea which of the various sizes was classified as _small_.

"There you are," Kusaka chuckled as she spotted Sawamura walking back into the room. "Get lost on the way?"

"Something like that," he shrugged, walking over to the girls and holding out the opened box for Kusaka. She hummed and picked up an orange elastic, dangling it in front of Atsuko. "You seem like an orange kind of girl. Am I right?"

"I love orange!" Atsuko grinned and Kusaka began to tie up the ends of her dual french braids. She patted the top of the girl's head, "Good to go, Atsu-chan. Now you match your mom."

"Impressive," Maki commented, stepping aside while Atsuko hurried out of the room to check her hair in the mirror. "I could never braid such short hair, it hurts my fingers."

"I always had short hair as a girl," Kusaka mused, reaching up to curl a strand around her finger to study momentarily. "I kind of miss it so this is welcomed practice."

"You'd look great with short hair, Kusaka-chan," Maki smiled. "Isn't that right, Daichi?"

"Suz looks great no matter what," he shrugged.

"Um, thanks," she glanced at her bag across the room and cleared her throat. "I should actually head out now though."

"Hmm, so soon?"

"Yeah, sorry," Kusaka gave Maki a sympathetic smile. "I just want to make sure there's something ready for my mom to eat when she wakes up later. Thank you for everything though."

"You're welcome here any time, Kusaka-chan," Maki glanced over at her son with a smirk. "Even if Daichi's not here."

With a quiet laugh, Kusaka thanked her again and collected her belongings before making her way back downstairs, Daichi following close behind. When she began to slip her sneakers on and saw Sawamura doing the same, she tilted her head to the side in confusion.

"What?" He questioned. "You thought I was going to let you walk home alone in the dark?"

"It's only a block away," the brunette shrugged. "No big deal."

"Exactly, no big deal," he smirked as he finished tying his shoes and stood up straight before snagging her messenger bag and tossing it over his shoulder. "Ready?"

With a sigh of defeat, Kusaka nodded and followed him out the door before falling into step beside him, fidgeting with the straps of her guitar case as they walked. "Your family's nice."

"You seemed to handle them all pretty well," he peered down at her, anxious that she was just being polite. "Sorry, they can be a bit much...especially Atsuko."

"She reminds me of Maeda," Kusaka chuckled, meeting his gaze as she smiled up at him. "Everyone's great, Daichi. Really."

Running a hand through his hair to try and ease some of the nervous tension he held, Sawamura let go of a breath. "I'm glad you think so."

The brunette nodded and they continued on in relative silence though both were thinking the same thing:

_Should I kiss her?_

_Should I kiss him?_

The tension between them was palpable and as they neared their destination, Kusaka's hands began to tremble at her sides. The more she thought about them sharing a kiss, the more her stomach whirred in circles. She'd never kissed anyone before...what if she was bad at it? Scratch that - she'd _definitely_ be bad at it for that fact alone. What if it was bad enough that he wouldn't want to try again one day...what if she completely blows her chance with him?...what if she already did?

As they reached Kusaka's front door, Sawamura glanced down and noticed her quivering hands. His eyebrows furrowed momentarily and he reached out for both of her hands. "You should've said something if you were cold, Suzume," he sighed.

"Oh. Um, cold," she looked down at their hands and awkwardly laughed. "Yeah, just a little cold...sorry."

"I'm glad we hung out tonight," Sawamura squeezed her hands, trying to get her to look up at him again.

"Me too," she replied quietly, her stomach flipping from side to side as she worried. "Hopefully we'll be better prepared if there's a quiz tomorrow."

"Mhmm," he hummed. "But even if there isn't, I'm still happy I got to spend a bit of time with you."

With her head still tilted down, she shyly peered up at him through her eyelashes and the insecurity written all over her face was enough to make the decision for Sawamura. He wanted to kiss her, but he also wanted their first kiss to be one she'd look back on fondly, not one that she recalled feeling so nervous about. He wanted it to be perfect and he knew at that moment that this wasn't it; they would have another chance.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," he smiled sweetly, letting go of one of her hands to brush her hair behind her ear. Sawamura's fingers grazed her cheek as his hand followed through with the motion, his tender touch bringing a small curve to her lips and a warm hue to her cheeks. _Much better._ "See you tomorrow, Hummingbird."


	15. Don't Worry

The walk to the cafeteria the next day shouldn't have been as nerve-wracking as it was for Kusaka; her stomach churned with each step she took.

_Maybe I should just go to the band room. What if he regrets it...or doesn't want to see me. What if my being there will make him uncomfortable? I shouldn't go..._

With only a few more feet between her and the room she had now decided on avoiding, Kusaka turned on her heels and changed direction, only to hear her name called out a moment later.

Though she wanted to pretend she hadn't heard, she didn't want to be rude and so she glanced over her shoulder, her eyes meeting with the bright ones belonging to Sugawara. "Did you forget something?"

"Um," she rubbed the back of her neck. "Kinda? I think I'm just gonna go to the band room instead.."

"Aw, don't do that. Come," he nodded towards the cafeteria. "Before you worry Daichi over nothing again, hmm?"

Kusaka's eyebrows knitted together. "Again?"

Sugawara laughed as he began walking. "Did I say that?"

"Yep," she matched his pace in an instant, her curiosity enough to convince her body to move. "You did."

"Huh," he shrugged, turning his head to hide the sly smile that rose to his lips. "Oops."

"What did you mean?" Kusaka pressed on, unknowingly falling into Sugawara's well-intentioned trap.

"Oh, you know how he is," Sugawara hummed, recalling his friend asking for advice about her this morning. "It's only because he cares about you, Kusaka-san."

"You think?"

Sugawara glanced down at her, flipping the question around and returning it to sender. "You don't?"

Kusaka chewed on the inside of her cheek for a moment, her eyes flickered up from the floor in front of them and as fate would have it, landed upon the man in question. Sawamura's entire expression livened as their gazes met and she couldn't help the upward pull of her lips. "Maybe you're right, Suga-san."

"I'm definitely right," he chuckled. "Now aren't you glad you didn't run away?"

"I wasn't running away."

"You walked almost the entire way to the cafeteria and then chickened out," he reasoned, his hand waving around as he accentuated his point. "Sounds a lot like running away to me."

With a roll of her eyes, Kusaka gave Sugawara's arm a weak shove. "You don't have to say it like that you know."

"Everything's fine, Kusaka-san," he leaned closer to her as they approached the table and added under his breath, "you'll get another chance, don't worry."

Sawamura raised an eyebrow at the newly blushing Kusaka as she slipped into the seat beside him. "What was that about?"

"Nothing," she quickly replied, scratching her cheek as she looked away. "Don't worry about it."

"You know that m-"

"Makes you worry more?" Kusaka softly laughed as she finished his sentence. "Yeah, sorry. But really, it was just Suga-san teasing."

"Is that so," he hummed, narrowing his eyes jokingly at Sugawara. "Don't make me beat you up, Suga."

"Don't worry, Daichi. I'm not after your girl," Sugawara laughed, glancing over at Azumane. "Asahi though...he's the wildcard."

Sawamura slid his fake glare towards his long-haired friend, who had just taken a bite of his food and frantically waved his hands in front of his chest while he chewed quickly before replying. "Don't look at me. I-I'm not either," he smiled apologetically at Kusaka. "Sorry, Kusaka-san. You're great and all but um..."

Azumane began to stumble on his words and though she was inwardly quite flustered by the conversation, she was more concerned about him putting his foot in his mouth and wanted to throw him a bone. "It's fine, Azumane-san, I get it."

"Sorry," he grimaced.

Sugawara chuckled and elbowed his side. "Smooth as always, Asahi."

While Sugawara continued to tease Azumane, Sawamura nudged Kusaka's foot under the table. "How'd your morning go?"

"Alright I guess," she nudged his foot back. "Yours?"

"Alright," he smiled as he felt her shoe rest against his. "Better now though."

"Why?" Kusaka glanced over at his lunch. "Oh, leftover ramen. That explains it."

"The ramen is just the cherry on top," Sawamura laughed.

Kusaka slipped her lunch out of her messenger bag and munched away as the three boys talked about what they anticipated working on during volleyball practice, adding in a comment or two when prompted by her new friends.

A buzz in her pocket drew her attention to her phone and she pulled out the device, stifling a laugh as she saw the conversation that spurred to life in her band's group chat.

 **TheBestFriEndo**  
So what are we playing Thursday?

 **DokiDokiRoki**  
Grilled cheese!

 **TheBestFriEndo**  
No.

 **VolcaNakano**  
I'm Not Getting Excited

 **TheBestFriEndo**  
That's a fun one. We get 2, right?

 **VolcaNakano**   
I think Zume-chan signed us up for two slots.

 **DokiDokiRoki**  
Grilled cheese in my mouth...

 **SlightlySuz**  
Yeah, the usual two.

 **SlightlySuz**  
I agree with Baka's pick.

 **DokiDokiRoki**  
Got the bread...

 **TheBestFriEndo**  
No

 **DokiDokiRoki**  
Got the cheese...

 **VolcaNakano**  
Maybe we should consider it

 **TheBestFriEndo**  
No, man. No one will take us seriously.

 **TheBestFriEndo**  
Come on, Saka-chan. Back me up on this one.

 **DokiDokiRoki**  
Make me a grilled cheese please...

Kusaka's soft titter quickly caught Sawamura's attention and although his first reaction was to smile at the sight, a small pang of worry coincided with that. Though he had felt undoubtedly relieved with the confirmation of her relationship status, it was no guarantee of her heart. Trying to shove aside feelings of inadequacy, Sawamura leaned closer and murmured lowly so as not to interrupt Azumane and Sugawara as they kept up their conversation. "What's got you giggling?"

Shifting to be pressed against his side, Kusaka moved her arm to give him a better view of her screen and scrolled up for him to see the conversation. With a relieved smile, Sawamura glanced up at Kusaka, only to find her already waiting for his response.

Having her in such close proximity once again was both soothing and nerve-wracking at the same time, but the warmth within him overpowered his anxiety-ridden mind. Sawamura repositioned his arm to stretch behind her, his hand resting atop an empty part of the bench on her opposite side as he moved himself to be a partial barrier between her and the rest of the world.

"I have a feeling that song will be a fan favourite," he commented, the bass in his low voice causing Kusaka's brain to short circuit.

"Hah, um," she bit her lip as she glanced back down at the group chat. "Seems like you and Hiroki are on the same page."

"Considering it's the only one of two you've willingly played for me though, I can't be sure if it's the right choice," his eyes flickered over to her cherried cheeks and he smiled at her flustered state. "Guess you'll have to play a few more for me so I can make an educated suggestion."

 **VolcaNakano**  
Try and steal a bite...

 **TheBestFriEndo**  
Oh come on, man. Not you too.

 **DokiDokiRoki**  
We'll get in a fight

 **TheBestFriEndo**  
Come on, Saka-chan. I'm dyin' over here!

Sawamura watched as the conversation moved along without her and he hummed, "You'd better reply before Endo perishes at the hands of grilled cheese."

"R-right," she laughed awkwardly, tapping a quick reply as she tried to will her wits to return to her.

 **SlightlySuz**  
Computing...

 **VolcaNakano**  
Grilled cheeeeeeeeeessseeeee~

 **SlightlySuz**  
Analyzing...

 **TheBestFriEndo**  
Ffs

 **TheBestFriEndo**  
I hate you all.

"What do you think?" Kusaka questioned, keeping her fingers poised on the device.

"Am I the tiebreaker?"

"Currently, yes."

"Wow," Sawamura playfully mused. "I feel so oddly powerful..."

The brunette laughed and bumped her shoulder against Sawamura's chest. "Don't let it go to your head. It's a one-time-only deal."

Thinking back to how delighted Kusaka was while playing the song for him was enough to form his opinion - how could he not want to see that again? "I think you should do it. You said it sounded even better with everyone else so I've gotta hear the completed masterpiece."

"Hmm, valid point," she hummed with a soft smile.

 **SlightlySuz**  
Calculating results...

 **VolcaNakano**  
Nerd.

 **SlightlySuz**  
Jerk.

 **SlightlySuz**  
I'm Not Getting Excited & Grilled Cheese.

 **TheBestFriEndo**   
They don't even mesh well together. SMH

 **DokiDokiRoki**   
Yayayayayayayayayayay!

Looking across the table at the cozy-looking pair, Azumane quietly laughed. "I kinda feel like a third wheel. Maybe we should go?"

"If you draw attention to it, they'll both freak out," Sugawara advised, bringing a finger to his lips. "Don't spoil it for them just yet, Asahi."

\---

"You know," Sugawara mused as he and Sawamura made their way to the gym after class. "You're a _way_ bigger flirt than I thought, Daichi."

"Me?"

"No, the other guy practically attached to Kusaka-san's hip at lunch today," he laughed.

"Hah," Sawamura rubbed the back of his neck as he sheepishly looked away. "I guess I didn't really think about it... just kinda happened on its own."

Sugawara grinned and poked his friend's shoulder. " _See?_ I told you; nothing to worry about."

The brunette nodded, a love-struck smile playing upon his lips. "What did you say to her earlier?"

"What do you mean?" Sugawara tilted his head to the side, feigning ignorance.

"You whispered something to make her blush," he recalled her charming flush in his mind's eye, curiosity bubbling within him. "What did you say?"

"Oh, nothing important," Sugawara smirked. " _Don't worry about it."_

"Ha-ha," Sawamura laughed dryly. "Really though."

"I told her that she'd have another chance," the grey-haired boy shrugged. "I think she needed to hear it."

Sawamura felt a lump grow in his throat, glancing over at his friend with concern. "Y-you did? What else did you tell her?"

"Daichi," Sugawara chuckled and patted his back. "Relax. She looked worried and I just so happened to have guessed what it was about."

"I don't want to scare her away like my grandfather anticipated," Sawamura sighed, running a hand through his hair. "What if she's not interested and then I totally blow it before I even had a chance?"

"Do you _really_ believe that?" Sawamura raised an eyebrow at his friend. "Would she have let you sit like that at lunch if she wasn't interested?"

"Well, ma-"

"What about the hand holding then, hmm?" Sugawara crossed his arms over his chest as they walked into the clubroom.

"Maybe she was just being polite."

"We've been over this Daichi," he laughed at his friend's unnecessary insecurity and reassuringly smiled at him. "She would've pulled away, or at least wouldn't have let you do it again," he pointed upwards to accentuate his explanation. "Which she did."

"Oh, ho, ho! What is this I hear?" Tanaka smirked as he stood in front of the two captains with his hands on his hips. "Trouble in paradise already, Daichi-san?"

"No," he replied point blank, not bothering to elaborate.

Sugawara winked at his underclassman. "I think it's more so the opposite of that, Tanaka."

"Oooh," Tanaka snickered as he lightly shoved Sawamura's shoulder in a playful way. "Going's gettin' good then?"

Brown eyes narrowed disapprovingly at what his tone implied. "Tanaka, keep your mind out of the gutter."

"Yeah," Sugawara poked Sawamura's cheek. "They're only at a grade-schooler level right now anyway."

Unable to ignore the conversation, Tsukishima sighed loudly. He and Kusaka weren't close, but even if he wouldn't admit it aloud, he considered her a friend and whenever a conversation arose with her as the subject, he felt the need to throw in his two-cents. "That's all they'll reach. She's too level-headed to pursue anything more with someone so married to a game."

Sawamura's eyebrows furrowed as he tossed a glance in the blond's direction. "What's it to you, anyways, Tsukishima?"

"Nothing," he shrugged, unaffected. "Just doubt that you'll be seen as more than a friend when you're so unavailable."

"I'm no-" Sawamura sighed as he stopped himself, knowing that getting worked up is exactly what Tsukishima is aiming for. With a wave of his hand, Sawamura added, "Your opinion on this doesn't matter, Tsukishima."

A smirk pulled up the blond's lips as he slyly replied."It might matter to Kusaka-san."

"It might," the team captain agreed. "But it doesn't to me. So zip it."

"Can't handle hearing an alternative point of view?" Tsukishima hummed as he walked past, glancing over his shoulder to add, "Guess you aren't as confident as you seem, _Captain_."

Noticing Sawamura's tight jaw and clenched fists resting at his sides, Hinata scratched his cheek. "What's so bad about being on a grade-schooler level? I mean, isn't that better than nothing?"

"That's not the point, dumbass," Kageyama smacked the back of the decoy's head.

"Oww," Hinata whined, pouting as he rubbed the back of his head. "I don't get what the big deal is."

"Then shut up," the genius setter called out.

"Bu-"

Having little patience for Hinata's lack of social skills, Kageyama swatted him over the head again. "Shut up!"

As the pair of first-year's continued to bicker, Sugawara noticed Sawamura's tensed shoulders relax. He chuckled to himself, of course, those two arguing would calm him - something normal for once.

"Hey, Daichi?" Sugawara called out to his friend as a thought popped into his head.

"Yeah?" His head tilted to the side.

"I think you might need to hear this too," he hummed thoughtfully. "You'll have another chance. Don't worry."


	16. Impossible To Ignore

Bursting at the seams with anxiety-laced excitement, Kusaka listened while a woman with an acoustic guitar droned on about her travels. Her fingers tapped on the surface of the circular wooden table she and her bandmates were seated at until Nakano reached over and pressed them flat against the surface. "Be patient, Zume-chan," he laughed quietly, knowing full well of the surge of adrenaline that often came in times like this.

"I'm excited, sue me," she shrugged, slipping her hands into her lap to twiddle her thumbs.

"There's only like," Nakano glanced around the dimly lit venue, taking a headcount of both staff and patrons at Reckless Coffee. "twenty-seven people here. Nothing to get _that_ excited about."

"That's six more people than last time," she grinned. "Not bad!"

Endo chuckled at her enthusiasm, grateful that she had always been eager to perform rather than a nervous wreck. "Your courage surprises me every time."

"It shouldn't," Kusaka shrugged, taking a look over her shoulder just in time to catch a few familiar faces walking in.

Sawamura peered briefly around the room, the warm glow of the track lighting illuminating the sea of strangers until the one person he was searching for came to light. A smile stretched across his lips as he caught her eye and felt immediately pulled in her direction. Her giddy grin turned into one much sweeter as he approached along with Sugawara and Azumane at his side.

"Fancy seeing you guys here."

Sugawara smiled and rested his elbow on Sawamura's shoulder. "We had to come cheer you on, Kusaka-san."

"Though we know you'll do great regardless," Sawamura added.

"Of course she will," Nakano piped up, his eyes narrowing slightly at Sawamura before flickering over to the other two. "She always does."

"Uh, thanks?" Kusaka raised a questioning eyebrow at Nakano, his shift in demeanour catching her off guard.

"What's up your ass?" Hasegawa laughed, slapping Nakano's shoulder before bringing his attention to the three strangers in front of them. "Any friends of Kusaka-chan are friends of ours."

After making the necessary introductions and with Nakano still staring down the three high school seniors, Endo decided to speak up. "Mr.Positivity in the flesh, huh?" He hummed with a polite smile. "It's nice to meet you guys.

Sawamura rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Nice to meet you too."

"Don't worry," Hasegawa chimed in, picking up on his apprehension. "She's only said good things."

"That's a relief, then. Isn't it, Daichi?" Sugawara laughed, elbowing his friend's side before glancing at the empty table beside theirs. "We should grab a seat though. You guys are up right away, right?"

"Yeah, five minutes-ish," Kusaka nodded.

"Awesome," Sawamura smiled, his eyes connecting with those belonging to his crush. "Can't wait to watch you guys. Grilled Cheese is still in the line up I hope?"

Hasegawa guffawed and swatted Endo's shoulder energetically. "It's a fan favourite already!"

"Yeah," Endo shook his head in annoyance. "That's still the plan."

"You don't have to sound so upset about it," Kusaka teased as she poked his cheek, grinning as he swatted her hand away childishly. "It's not like it's some amazing gig, Endo. Low-stakes, my friend."

"Well, I'm definitely looking forward to it," Sawamura hummed, his arm being tugged by Sugawara who was trying to pull him into motion and toward the empty table before it was no longer vacant. "Break a leg, Suzume."

"Thanks," she replied with a smile before biting down on her bottom lip as she felt her heart flutter at the sound of her name.

Nakano's mind raced as he studied Kusaka's interaction with Sawamura. His chest tightened while his eyebrows pulled together, wondering how close they really were. The way she smiled...even the look in her eye... it was different - and he hated that.

Kusaka had never looked at _him_ that way. She'd never bitten her lip while shyly glancing away and she'd never focused so intently on him while he was in a group setting, either. The girl was fixated on Sawamura almost exclusively and it begged the question: _what did Sawamura have that he didn't?_

While Kusaka's thoughts were otherwise occupied at that moment, to both Hasegawa and Endo, it was obvious that Nakano had been keeping something from them. The two shared a knowing glance before the drummer tried to lighten the emotional fog that had clouded around the group due to their guitarist's jealousy.

"You know," Hasegawa beamed brightly, both index fingers pitter-pattering against the tabletop. "It's really great to be here again. I'm glad you suggested it, Saka-chan."

Being pulled out of her dazed thoughts, Kusaka's soft smile grew. "I'm happy you guys were able to make it work."

"Me too," Endo agreed. "We should try and make it a regular thing again, it's good practice."

Nakano merely grumbled in agreement and Kusaka leaned over to flick his forehead. "Why are you pouting, Baka? You should be excited."

"I'm _not_ pouting," he scoffed, running a hand through his shaggy brown hair as he tried to think of a way to dispel the aura of negativity Kusaka had pointed out. "I'm just.. _.pensive_."

The table erupted in laughter and Hasegawa ruffled Nakano's hair. "Pensive. _Yeah, okay,_ " he laughed.

"What?! I can be pensive! I'm thoughtful as fuck," the guitarist defended, his arms folding over his chest as he knowingly fought a losing battle. "I write songs and shit. That counts as pensive in one way or another."

 _"I write songs and shit,"_ Kusaka mocked, contorting her facial features in a silly way she knew would rile him up. " _Lah-dee-dah_."

"Fuck off," Nakano lightly pushed her shoulder, desperately trying to contain the laughter he felt bubbling to the surface. "You look ridiculous right now."

"Jokes on you, Baka Naka," she shrugged. "I always look ridiculous."

_That's not true..._

"Ooh!" Hasegawa tapped the table with his knuckles three times in quick succession. "The Alanis Morrisette knock-off is done. We're up!"

A wave of adrenaline coursed through Kusaka's veins at the notion. Sure, she knew it was only two-dozen or so people, but to her, that didn't matter. There was something about the thrill of getting to express herself creatively with her friends and in the loudest way possible that was so satisfying to her.

Every day she felt like a nameless face in a crowd and although that didn't particularly bother her when she performed, whether it be for a few people or a crowd, Kusaka felt _seen_. Performing was the only time she felt like she couldn't be ignored, and if she had people's attention, she might as well make it worthwhile.

Scurrying over to the makeshift stage area, Kusaka's fingers gripped the neck of her guitar off of the communal stand provided, Nakano and Endo following suit as Hasegawa's springy steps led him to the venue's house drum kit. Slipping her frayed black guitar strap over her head as she took to the center of the stage area, she fished out her favourite Dunlop plectrum and looked over her shoulder at Nakano and grinned. "You ready, Pouty?"

"For fuck sake," he muttered, rolling his eyes with a laugh as he saw her bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Call me that one more time and I swear to god I will-"

"Alright, alright. I'm sorry," she chuckled, her eyes flickering over to Hasegawa to make sure he was ready before looking over her other shoulder at Endo.

The blond gave her a thumbs up and a knowing smile, encouraging her to get the ball rolling. Kusaka adjusted the microphone stand in front of her and flicked the piece of equipment on after plugging the provided patch cord into her guitar.

"It's been a while since we've played here but we used to come every week," Kusaka hummed into the mic as she plucked a few strings to ensure her instrument was still tuned to her liking. "So to anyone hearing us for the first time tonight, welcome to the Bad Luck Club."

The brunette's smile faded into a smirk as she continued, her eyes flickering up as she looked out into the cluster of tables in the alternative cafe's cozy space. "And to anyone who's already been initiated - welcome back."

Sawamura leaned back in his seat with his arms folded over his chest, his attention exclusively attached to the girl who exuded an intoxicating amount of confidence. The drummer counted her in with several heavy hits of his drumsticks and with a tap of her left Chuck Taylor against her distortion pedal, Kusaka opened up the song.

_I'm not getting excited_   
_'Cause the thrill isn't mine to invite in_   
_Just the chill when I learn that it's finally my turn_   
_I have finally earned my place in the urn_   
_And I take a fall_   
_But I keep my hands soft_

Kusaka's eyes met with Sawamura's as she sang, a flirtatious smile playing upon her lips as she continued, her heart racing as she knew she had his full attention.

_I keep my body limp and I move with the wind_   
_I'll go where it bends and let go of the expectation_

The rest of the band kicked the song into gear and the way her entire body reacted to the change had Sawamura grinning from ear to ear. Every day he saw a new facet of Kusaka's personality and every day he fell even harder for her - but _this?_ This was something else.

Every movement she made looked like second nature as she performed. Her eyes sparkled with excitement as she hopped around in front of the microphone with her guitar, sharing occasional glances with her band members as they stayed in constant synchronization. Kusaka's energy was contagious not only to the band but to everyone watching. She may not be someone who typically stood out in a crowd, but whenever that adrenaline kicked in - Kusaka became a force to be reckoned with and nearly impossible to ignore.

No one fed off of Kusaka's spiritedness more than Nakano. Though he stood to her right, he often angled himself to be able to see her. Not only because he loved watching her on stage, but because every time she looked his way, every time their eyes met during a song, he felt so connected to her. Despite it being only a fleeting moment, it could never be duplicated; each was different and yet yielded the same result for him: an overwhelming feeling of contentedness.

As the song wrapped tightly with a bow, hoots and hollers from a trio of friends were the first sounds to follow. Kusaka's quiet chuckle was amplified by the microphone as she glanced down at her guitar, repositioning her hands on the fretboard to play the first note of their next song. Bringing her attention back to the crowd, her eyes were naturally drawn to Sawamura.

Her bottom lip found its way between her teeth as she registered the charmed smirk he held, her stomach fluttering in the way that only happened around him. He lifted her hands to loosely cup his mouth, amplifying his voice. "Grilled cheese!"

Breaking her out of her trance, she laughed again and shook her head knowingly. "Hold on, Daichi, _geez_."

He shrugged, chuckling in response before Endo sighed dramatically into his microphone. "We signed up for two slots, so you guys are stuck with us for one more."

"Don't make it sound so horrible, Endo," Nakano retorted, pushing down the jealousy he felt from hearing Kusaka address Sawamura so casually.

"Yeah, Endo!" Hasegawa called out, his foot anxiously tapping beside the bass pedal. "Get with the program, yeesh!"

"This next one is a very _special_ song to us," Kusaka playfully strummed the first chord as she chose her words carefully. "Well, to everyone except our bassist over here. He just can't seem to read between the lines to really understand the _depth_ behind the song."

"Fuck off," Endo laughed, beginning the opening bass line in a forceful way to start the song.

Though entirely amused with Kusaka's presence, both Sugawara and Azumane couldn't help but steal glances at their love-struck friend. It was arguably more entertaining for them to see this side of Sawamura than to watch the show in front of them, and despite the teasing they were certainly going to do later, they were also envious. Not only did their captain look undoubtedly happy - he looked proud.

And he was. Sawamura's admiration could only be matched by his pride for her. Her dedication and commitment were reflected in the confidence she held along with the fire behind her eyes. She worked hard and it showed, even when she was singing about a goddamn sandwich.

After finishing their two-track set, they cleared the space for the next act and headed to the area next to the stage where they had left their instrument cases and packed up. Just as Kusaka was zipping up her guitar case, Sawamura's white and black runners entered her vision and she felt a blush already rising to her cheeks before she even looked up at him.

Running a hand loosely through her hair to pull it out of her face, Kusaka smiled. "Well? It was better with everyone, right?"

"I like both versions," he mused. "That was really something else, Hummingbird."

Nakano nearly choked on thin air hearing that nickname, his narrowed eyes flickering over to the pair only a few steps away from him. Feeling his stomach sink as he noticed her unmistakable flush, Nakano's jealousy began to take hold of him. _Who does this guy think he is?_

"Hopefully that's a good thing," Kusaka scratched her cheek as she began to sling the straps of her case around her shoulders.

"Definitely is," Sawamura smiled and nodded over to Sugawara and Azumane. "Wanna stay and hang out for a bit?"

"She's busy," Nakano flatly answered for her. "Move along."

The brunette glanced over at Nakano with a furrowed brow. "We didn't have any plans, Baka."

Crossing his arms over his chest, he raised a challenging eyebrow at Sawamura while continuing to speak to Kusaka. "We do now."

"Don't be like that," she rolled her eyes. "I know you're annoyed I have more friends now but you can't just make decisions for me on a whim."

"I'm not annoyed you have more friends," Nakano's gaze flickered down to hers. "I'm annoyed that you're friends with _him_."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Kusaka scoffed, turning to fully face the guitarist. "What's going on with you lately, Nakano?"

He let out an annoyed huff. "How _dense_ can you be, Suzume?"

"Watch it," Sawamura warned, the serious tone of his voice one that nearly sent a shiver down Kusaka's spine as he took a protective step closer to her - worries immediately swirling in the whirlpool of his mind.

Nakano shot Sawamura a glare. "Mind your own fuc-"

Endo's hand heavily landed on Nakano's shoulder as he interrupted him, unwilling to let the situation get out of hand. "Let it go, Nakano."

"Bu-"

"I know," the blond anticipated the jealousy-induced confession his friend was likely about to blurt out, stopping it in its tracks. "Now's not the time, man."

Letting out an exasperated breath, Nakano focused on Kusaka's confused expression and rolled his eyes. "Forget it, Zume-chan."

Her eyebrows knit together as she stared a moment longer at Nakano, studying his unusually defeated posture. "Uh, okay," she hesitantly replied. "I guess I'll see you guys Saturday?"

"Yeah," Endo agreed. "At Hiroki's. Bring snacks?"

"Sure," she smiled, letting go of a deep breath to try and shake away the weird tension Nakano's comment produced. "You got it."

Sawamura, who was still standing quite closely behind Kusaka, slipped his hand around hers, giving it a tender squeeze as he positioned himself at her side. "Ready?"

Glancing down at their clasped hands, Kusaka's soft smile wasn't missed by any of the friends surrounding her. In an effort to save what little sanity Nakano had left in the moment, Hasegawa cleared his throat. "We'll see you Saturday, Saka-chan. Have fun, okay?"

"R-right," she stumbled on her words, both surprised and thankful that none of them bothered to acknowledge Sawamura's gesture. "See you later."

Kusaka's fingers gingerly threaded between Sawamura's as they made their way to the table Sugawara and Azumane occupied, her heart slamming against it's cage as she considered what it meant that he was holding her hand...again...in public.

"Great job Kusaka-san!" Azumane beamed as they approached, doing his best not to draw attention to the obvious while trying to make her feel at ease. "We knew you were talented, but wow. That was awesome."

"Agreed," Sugawara confirmed with a nod and smile. "You certainly have an on-stage presence, Kusaka-san!"

"Thanks," she grinned back, rubbing the back of her neck with her free hand. "It's nice to get up there again."

Pulling out a chair for her, Sawamura motioned to it and she absentmindedly sighed before sliding her hand out of his to be able to set her guitar to lean against the table before sitting down. Though Kusaka allowing him to hold her hand at all - and in front of her friends, no less - gave him the reassurance of reciprocated feelings, the disappointed breath she took as she pulled away from his touch only further assured him.

After taking the seat next to her, Sawamura glanced down and saw her fingers anxiously tapping the side of her chair as she tried to uphold a conversation with their two friends, Much to her relief, he tangled their fingers together as he let their clasped hands dangle between their chairs.

The racing of Kusaka's heart began to regulate as her crush brushed his thumb over the top of her hand in a repetitive motion, supporting her in a way that spread a comforting warmth throughout her body. Though she did her best to keep her attention on the conversation at hand, it was practically impossible for her to not be painstakingly aware of every movement Sawamura made; how she could think of anything other than him at that moment seemed mind-boggling.

The next time Sugawara glanced at his phone, he noticed it was getting quite late. While part of him hated to be the bearer of bad news as Sawamura and Kusaka both looked really happy and he didn't want to have to be the person to burst their bubble, the more responsible part of him knew it needed to be done.

"Well, this has been fun," Sugawara stuffed his phone back into his pocket. "But we should probably head home since there's still school tomorrow."

"Right," Sawamura hummed, squeezing Kusaka's hand and bringing his full attention to her. "Would it be okay if I walked you home?"

"Oh," she chewed on her cheek for a moment as she contemplated his offer. The original plan was for Nakano to chauffeur everyone around and now that she had strayed from that plan, she remembered that the walk home wasn't a short one. Her body felt heavy with exhaustion and knowing she had to lug her guitar on her back the entire way on top of that certainly wasn't ideal. "I think I utilized most of my energy earlier so I'll just take the bus. Thank you, though."

"Let me rephrase that," Sawamura chuckled. "Would it be okay if I accompanied you to your door?"

With a half-hearted roll of her eyes, Kusaka nodded. It wasn't like they didn't live a block apart anyways, right? "Sure."

"Perfect," he beamed brightly before returning his attention to his teammates. "See you guys tomorrow morning?"

They both agreed and after saying their goodbyes, Sawamura slung Kusaka's guitar case over his shoulders and tugged her out of the coffee shop towards a bus stop.

The hum of the approaching tin can on wheels was quickly heard and it rumbled to a stop in front of the pair, the metal hinges of the door groaning as it opened. The girl slid into the first empty set of seats, a flickering streetlight catching her eye out the window for a moment before she sunk lower into her seat. 

"What time is it, anyway?" She questioned, exhaustion evident in her voice and confirmed by her posture.

Jostling slightly as he placed the protected Fender between his legs and the back of the seat in front of him, Sawamura retrieved his phone from his pocket to check. "Just past eleven."

"No wonder I'm so tired," Kusaka managed before covering her mouth with her hand as she yawned. "I usually go to sleep around now."

"It's a bit of a trip, you're welcome to rest a bit if you'd like," he murmured. "I'll keep an eye on the stops, don't worry."

"Are you sure?" The brunette questioned, rubbing softly at her tired eyes.

"Of course," Sawamura smiled sweetly. "If you're tired, you should sleep."

Kusaka's sleepy nod of approval was quickly followed by her pulling her arms closer to herself and letting her chin tuck against her chest. It was only a few moments before Sawamura could hear the change in her breathing and when her head lulled onto his shoulder, his resting smile grew.

To see the girl who was so captivatingly energetic such a short while ago now sleeping soundly against his shoulder as the bus hummed her lullaby only filled her heart to the brim with affection. She was so strong, yet so vulnerable. Confident yet doubtful. She was an enigma and seemingly the total exception to all the rules he thought to be true.

Sawamura's body moved on its own accord as his cheek laid to rest atop her silky locks and when she hummed approvingly and nestled a little closer, his smile widened. Never did he think he would be able to feel this way about someone, but with her, it was as if the world stopped spinning every time they touched - even if only for a moment.

Noticing the ghost of a smile playing upon Kusaka's lips only made him happier as he recalled a time when she barely even smiled at him and when she did, she tried to hide it away. Now, it was out of the norm to not see an upward curve to her plump lips and he couldn't be more grateful for that.

Letting go of a quiet breath, Sawamura couldn't help but press a delicate kiss to the top of her head before resting his cheek back against it, a silent hiss leaving his lips after he pinched his arm - the mild sting reminding him that he really wasn't dreaming.


	17. Chapter 17

"Hey, um...Maeda-san?" Kusaka sheepishly looked at her boy-crazed peer as they were plugging away at their task of folding laundry. "Can I get your advice?"

Immediately the girl's eyes lit up and she dropped the stark white bath towel she was folding. "Oh my god," she placed her hand on her heart and beamed brightly. "You're _finally_ asking for my help! I'm so proud of you! Tell me everything!"

Beginning to regret having said anything at all, Kusaka grumbled, "Nevermind."

"No!" Turning to face Kusaka fully, she leaned against the laundromat style counter and gave her full attention. "Please, please, _please_! I've been _dying_ to know what's going on with you and Sawamura-san!"

"You have to promise you won't tell anyone," Kusaka warned, her eyes narrowing into an intimidating glare. "Or I'll tell Oikawa about that picture wh-"

"Okay, okay, I promise!" She squealed, her cheeks flushing lightly at the thought of Kusaka's blackmail. "For the love of god, don't tell ANYONE about that. _Especially_ him!"

Kusaka placed a folded towel on top of the pile of likened linens before she crossed her arms over her chest. "You _really_ promise?"

Maeda sighed, letting her expression fall to a more serious one. "Yeah, Saka-chan. I promise."

"I...I don't know what to do," Kusaka grabbed another towel and began folding it so she could avoid witnessing Maeda's reactions.

"About what in particular?"

"Don't make me say it," the brunette groaned in annoyance.

"I can't give you advice if I don't know the situation, Saka-chan," Maeda pointed out. "So out with it already. Just like ripping off a band-aid, y'know?"

"I like him, alright?" Kusaka sighed and placed the folded towel on her stack of matching ones before repeating the action once again, her stomach fluttering as she admitted her feelings aloud. "And I don't know what to do...I've never really felt like this about someone before."

"You know he's into you too, right?" The blonde grinned. "It's totally obvious."

"I think so..." Her cheeks dusted with a rosy hue. "He's held my hand and we um, we almost kissed a few days ago."

"You WHAT?!" Maeda gaped, swatting at the girl's shoulder. "How was that not the first thing out of your mouth when you saw me today?! I need to know these things!"

Kusaka winced and put more space between them but Maeda continued. "So you're totally gonna go for it, right? When do you see him next?" The blonde gasped. "Is he here today? Have you seen him?"

"I don't know if he is," Kusaka scratched her cheek. "But I don't know what I'm supposed to do, Maeda-san...I wrote something but I don't know if I even want him to hear it."

"Saka-chan," her lips pulled up into a smile. "If you wrote something for him, why wouldn't you want him to hear it?"

"I didn't necessarily write it _for_ him... just _about_ him," Kusaka waved her hand dismissively. "And it's mostly just lyrics so far, it's not even finished."

"You _obviously_ have to play it for him," the blonde hummed. "He will just die, I swear."

"You make it sound so easy, Maeda-san!" She whined. "It's still possible that he doesn't like me. And even if he does, that doesn't mean he wants anything to happen..."

"You almost kissed and you think he doesn't want anything to happen?" Maeda rolled her eyes. "You're being ridiculous."

"He could've just been swept up in the moment, you know."

"Well, what happened after that? Have you seen him since your almost-kiss?"

"Yeah... at school and he came to open mic night too."

"Hmm," the blonde hummed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "And he didn't try anything those times?"

"Just holding my hand," Kusaka pursed her lips as she looked down at the warm, dryer fresh towel in her hands, her skin tingling as she remembered what his touch felt like. "But nothing really more than that."

"Were you being weird?"

Kusaka's expression changed as her eyebrows pulled together and glanced over at her friend. "What does that even mean? I'm always weird."

Maeda rolled her eyes. "Weirder than usual? Maybe he thinks _you_ didn't want to kiss _him_?"

"I...I don't know?" She rubbed the back of her neck. "At least I don't think so."

"You probably were then," the girl sighed. "You have to be super obvious if you want him to understand without actually saying it, Saka-chan. He seems too considerate to just completely go for it without knowing it's what you want too."

"Maybe you're right Maeda-san...he _is_ really considerate..."

" _Who's_ really considerate?" A third voice chimed in and both heads whipped towards the door, Kusaka's heart in her throat as her eyes laid upon her mother's sly smile...and Sawamura's friendly one.

"Oh just this boy from my school," Maeda laughed, sounding surprisingly convincing until she continued, "Saka-chan is just actually participating in the conversation for once."

"Hah," she awkwardly chuckled. "Yeah... for once."

"Riiiiight," Emiri raised a knowing eyebrow at her daughter, Maeda's fib just barely even convincing Sawamura. "Well, I ran into Sawamura-kun on my way and invited him along with us for brunch, Suz. So let's get goin', no sense in letting us all starve."

Kusaka's eyes flickered from her mother's to Sawamura's and he shrugged. "If that's okay with you. I can always just stay he-"

"It's okay with me," she interrupted, the opportunity to spend any time with Sawamura at this point was welcome – even if it included her mother.

Sawamura's eyes softened as he smiled at her, happy to hear her so eager. "Great."

With a push forward from Maeda, Kusaka stumbled forward before glaring back at the girl who merely grinned. "Have fun!"

"So how'd your shift go today, Suz?" Emiri glanced back at the two teens behind her as they strolled through the halls of the retirement home towards the exit.

"It was alright," she shrugged. "Nothing to write home about."

"And how was your visit, Sawamura-kun?"

"It was..." Sawamura tried to think of the right word to describe an entire hour of his grandfather teasing him about Kusaka. "Eventful."

Emiri chuckled and returned her gaze forward as they approached the exit and walked to her vehicle. She noticed her daughter approaching the front passenger side door and quickly called her out on it. "It'd be rude to leave your friend to sit alone in the backseat, Suzume," she tutted, purely just trying to throw them together as much as possible to see their dynamic.

"Right," she rubbed the back of her neck, turning to Sawamura. "Sorry."

"It's no trouble either way, Suzume," he smiled kindly. "Whatever you prefer."

Of course, given the chance, there was no way Kusaka was going to refuse and so, much to his satisfaction, she slipped into the backseat alongside her crush.

It didn't surprise Kusaka to witness how easily Sawamura was able to keep up a pleasant conversation with her mother; he was so outgoing and friendly that she didn't think there were many people he wouldn't get along with. Merely adding in the appropriate hums of agreement into the conversation when necessary, the girl kept to herself only to avoid the verbal diarrhea she worried would spew from her mouth if she spoke and spare herself the teasing she'd be forced to endure when that eventually happened.

What she didn't realize was how much that concerned the male next to her, who was afraid that he had butted in where he wasn't welcome despite her saying the opposite earlier. He kept giving her opportunities to join in the conversation but other than the occasional one or two word response, she kept quiet.

The conversation lulled for a moment and Sawamura stole a glance at the girl, noticing her lips pulled tightly and a line creasing between her eyebrows. The nervous tap of her fingers against the middle seat between them gave away her anxiety and after a moment of hesitance due only to the fact that her mom was present, he covered her hand with his.

Kusaka's face turned toward him and her cheeks were already beginning to flush when their eyes met. He leaned in closer to her, his voice barely above a whisper as he quietly questioned, "You okay, Hummingbird?"

The usage of his nickname for her had her eyes flickering to the rearview mirror to check if her mother was watching and after brief confirmation that her focus was on the road, Kusaka turned her hand over in his to let their fingers weave together. "Mhmm. Sorry, Daichi."

"Nothing to apologize for," he murmured, momentarily tightening the hold he had on her hand. "Just making sure."

"Um, thanks," Kusaka nodded and when her hair fell in front of her face like a curtain blocking his view, Sawamura shifted so he could use his free hand to smooth her golden brown locks back into place.

Emiri, who had glanced back at just the right moment, smiled to herself as she focused back on the road, amused with their sweetness.

When they reached the diner and approached a booth, Emiri slipped into one side while her daughter and Sawamura slid into the other. Their server dropped off menus and when the male realized neither of the women he was with were looking at it, he tilted his head to the side with a silent question.

Kusaka shrugged. "We both get the same thing every time."

"Oh," he hummed happily. "So what do you normally get?"

"Pancakes."

"You can never go wrong with pancakes," Emiri mused, quoting her late husband with a tender smile.

"Words of wisdom," Sawamura chuckled, folding his menu and placing it atop the pile. "I certainly won't stray from tradition today then."

"You won't regret that choice," the mother confirmed with a nod. "Takehiko would approve."

Seeing Kusaka tense up out of the corner of his eye, Sawamura brought his full attention to her and she didn't even notice, her focus was glued to her fidgeting hands on top of the table. She couldn't remember the last time she'd heard his name spoken and to hear it so casually caught her off guard, an instant heaviness weighing on her heart.

"Sorry, Suz," Emiri sighed. "It just slipped. Hard not to think of him when we're here."

"It's fine," she replied, her meek tone leaving little doubt of her current state of mind.

Clued-in on who Takehiko was based on Emiri's apology, Sawamura wrapped his arm around Kusaka's shoulder and tucked her close to his side. Sure, her mother was there, but this was harmless, right? What was he supposed to do – watch her slip into sadness and not try to cheer her up? That simply wasn't an option.

To both Sawamura and Emiri's surprise, Kusaka didn't fuss about his action - she didn't squeak or pull away or blush. Instead, she let his warmth comfort her because if she were being honest with herself, right now she needed it. She hated how it only took a second to change her mood, but this time it overwhelmed her.

Kusaka's head lulled onto Sawamura's shoulder as he let his hand rub soothingly against her arm. Emiri smiled sadly at the sight, glad that her daughter had let her guard down enough to allow someone to even be able to comfort her in such a way.

"Did you guys visit here a lot with him?" Sawamura questioned, hoping that maybe a positive conversation about the man in question might help lighten the mood.

The brunette nodded as she timidly replied. "Every Saturday he'd bring us here for pancakes."

"That sounds really nice," he acknowledged.

"It was..." Kusaka sighed.

Emiri hummed in agreement. "Pancakes were certainly medicinal for that man. They never failed to put him in a good mood."

"Even if they were made poorly," The girl finally cracked a small smile, remembering the many Father's Day's where she had tried to cook them for him and despite their doughy texture, he still swore up and down that they were delicious.

"You know, we do something similar too."

"Really?" Kusaka tilted her head up to look at Sawamura and he smiled softly down at her.

"Yeah. Actually, my mom wanted me to invite you but I've just been, um," he chuckled sheepishly as he glanced away, his cheeks beginning to turn pink. "Trying to work up the courage to bring it up."

Peeling her head away from his shoulder to get a better look at him, Kusaka's stomach began to churn. _Trying to work up the courage?_ "What is it?"

"Just like your family always does pancakes here on Saturdays, my mom makes katsudon every Sunday. It's been that way since I was a kid, kind of our tradition now," Sawamura scratched his cheek. "My mom and the monsters liked having you around the other day and thought maybe you'd like to join us this week?"

"The monsters?" Emiri quietly laughed, her interest also piqued because she had no idea that her daughter had met his family.

"A term of endearment, I assure you," Sawamura grinned. "Although I'm sure Suzume can confirm it's an apt description."

"You're much too hard on them, they're just kids," Kusaka shook her head lightly with a smile. "They've got energy to spare and curiosity to satisfy."

With his arm still tenderly draped around Kusaka's shoulders, Sawamura's fingers absentmindedly began to caress the skin left uncovered by her t-shirt, making her heart go haywire. "You'll be singing a different tune once you're around them more," he smirked. "Believe me, even Suga struggles sometimes and he's the most patient person I know."

"I don't know, Sawamura-kun," Emiri chimed in, amused with his confident assumptions that she would be spending more time with his family. "With how she puts up with those boys and Maeda-chan, I think Suz has more patience than she leads on."

"I practically fight with Nakano every time we're in the same room," Kusaka chuckled. "Not quite sure that the guys are a good example of my patience, Mom."

"You two fight like cats and dogs for a reason though, but that's a conversation for a different day," Emiri hummed, glancing over at Sawamura, who nodded knowingly while trying to shove down the insecurities he held about Nakano's feelings for his crush.

"Whatever," Kusaka rolled her eyes. "The point is that I don't think your siblings are monsters, Daichi."

"Sooo," he dragged out the word as he tapped the pads of his fingers against her arm. "You'll come for dinner tomorrow then?"

Tilting her chin upwards to meet his gaze, the sweet smile that laced her lips set his heart ablaze. "Of course."

\-----

Nakano paced Hasegawa's basement as they waited for Kusaka to arrive that evening. She was late – that was really unlike her. Was she upset with him because of what happened the other night? Does she know how he feels and now she's uncomfortable and doesn't want to hang out? ...Did Sawamura say something to turn her against him? Would she even have listened if he had?

 _No,_ Nakano shook the thought from his head. _Suzume would never let someone force decisions on her, she's too stubborn....thank god._

What the group couldn't see was that she and Sawamura were standing in front of Hasegawa's house – saying goodbye. They'd ended up tackling their homework at his house that afternoon with Sugawara and Azumane so naturally, in an effort to spend as much time with her as she'd allow, he offered to walk her over.

With their hands clasped together in a way that felt almost habitual now, Sawamura's eyes crinkled while he smiled at her. "If you wanna let me know when you're ready to go I can swing by and walk you home."

"Oh, I couldn't bother you like that," she shrugged and glanced over at Nakano's mom's car parked in the driveway. "Nakano usually gives me a lift anyway. It's no big deal."

A spark of something she couldn't decipher flickered across Sawamura's expression for a fleeting moment before he tenderly grazed his thumb back and forth over the top of her hand; a reminder to himself that the closeness she was sharing with him was certainly not something she did with everyone - Nakano included.

"You're never a bother, Suzume. I like spending time with you, even if it's just going for a walk somewhere," he took a deep breath and ran his free hand through his hair as he tried to ignore the jealousy that pinched at his heart. "If something falls through or if you change your mind though, don't hesitate. Okay?"

"Okay," she nodded as she bit down on her bottom lip to keep her smile from spreading impossibly wide. "I should um, get in there I guess."

"Right," he let out a breathy chuckle as he squeezed her hand before letting it go, slipping her guitar case off from around his shoulders and holding it out for her to slide her arms through the straps.

After securing her case on her shoulders, Kusaka gave him a small wave and started walking towards the door, but each step she took felt like a mile between them and Sawamura's chest grew tighter while his mind started to race with all of the things he wanted to tell her and so he called out her name.

His feet moved faster than his reasoning could stop him and when she turned around, he was right in front of her, wrapping his arms around her waist to pull her against him. At first, her body was stiff, taken aback by his impulsivity but the warmth of his hold had her quickly melting into his embrace.

"Are you okay, Daichi?" She murmured, her hot breath hitting his neck in a way that only made him tighten his grip.

"Mhmm," He hummed into her ear, letting his nose nuzzle into her hair.

He wanted to tell her right then how he felt about her. How he was crazy about her, how happy he felt when she was around, how beautiful he thought she was... he wanted to tell her everything. But before he spoke, he realized that he was acting rash. She deserved a proper confession from him and spilling his heart out in the middle of some stranger's front lawn wasn't exactly how he imagined telling her.

"Sorry, it didn't feel like a proper goodbye and um, I just really wanted to hug you."

"Aw," Kusaka let out a quiet laugh and snaked her arms up around his neck to send him a smile. The apples of her cheeks were Gala red and with how fast her heart was beating, she would've been surprised if Sawamura couldn't hear it – but she didn't care this time. All day she'd felt an indescribable tension hanging between them and sharing this closeness with him right now helped alleviate that.

"That's really sweet."

"Hah," he chewed anxiously on his lip for a second, trying to fight off the blush he knew was rising to the surface. "Um, that's good I guess?"

"Yeah," she chuckled, her fingers brushing against the short wisps of hair at the base of his neck as she teased him. _"I guess."_

The sound of the front door opening had startled Kusaka enough to drop her arms from around his neck, though she hadn't bothered to put any space between them and when a smirk grew across Hasegawa's face, her stomach dropped.

"Oooh, this explains why you're late, Saka-chan," the drummer laughed and called out over his shoulder, "No need to send out the search committee! She's here!"

" _Shit_ ," the brunette quietly cursed before stepping out of Sawamura's grasp. "S-sorry Daichi. I'll um, see you tomorrow?"

"Of course," he smiled reassuringly and she rushed toward the door, slipping inside as Hasegawa stepped aside to let her through.

The tall, lanky drummer took a few paces out of the house toward Sawamura and propped a hand on his hip. "Hey," he called out, feeling the need to look out for his friend. "Be good to her, alright?"

"I will," Sawamura approached Hasegawa and stuck out his hand. "I'm glad she has you guys looking out for her."

Completing the gesture, Hasegawa shook his hand and gave him a friendly smile. "If you're going to stick around, we should get to know you better. Maybe make a plan to hang or something."

"Sounds good," Sawamura exhaled with a laugh, a weight feeling like it had been lifted off his chest knowing that at least one of Kusaka's friends wasn't opposed to, well, whatever it was they were. He jutted out his thumb toward the sidewalk as he continued. "I should get out of your hair for now though, I've probably caused enough delays for you guys today."

"Just a bit," Hasegawa grinned. "See you around, Mr. Positivity."

"It's Sawamura," he shrugged.

"We know," the drummer chuckled, waving him off before heading back inside the house and to the basement where Kusaka was getting the third degree.

"But you're never late, Kusaka. You're sure you didn't like, get kidnapped or something?"

"Abducted by aliens?" Nakano suggested.

"Demonic possession, actually," Kusaka retorted, crossing her arms as she slumped onto the couch beside Endo. "So you're both wrong."

Nakano gasped dramatically, tossing his head back while his arm covered his eyes. "Say it isn't so, Zume-chan!"

"It's true," she shrugged with a playful smile. "I was possessed by a demon and needed to see an exorcist before coming here. No big deal, just average teenage girl stuff."

"Average teenage girl stuff indeed," Hasegawa smirked and immediately her face turned bright red as she anticipated the teasing she was about to endure.

"Shut up," she grumbled, pulling her black sweater's hood over her head and down to cover her flushed cheeks. "I don't wanna hear it."

"Oh, come on, Saka-chan! It's nothing to be that embarrassed about," he chuckled.

Nakano's eyes narrowed at Kusaka as she cowered into her hoodie. "What'd you do?"

"Nothing," she defended weakly.

The guitarist tossed a pillow at her. "Then why are you hiding like a dog with its tail between its legs?"

"Because someone has a boyyyfriend," Hasegawa laughed in a sing-song voice. "Isn't that right, Saka-chan?"

Nakano's eyes widened as he felt his heart practically stop beating while he waited for her response.

"He's not my boyfriend," she sighed and tossed the pillow at the drummers head, rolling her eyes when he caught it rather than getting hit with it. "Don't be so dramatic, Hiroki."

Letting out a breath of relief, Nakano could only hope that their friend was over-exaggerating as he was usually one to do. Of course, his relief was short-lived when Hasegawa's reply immediately followed. "That's not what it looked like to me."

"Well, he's not, alright?" She took a deep breath and tried to gain some of her confidence back as she tugged her hood off. "And even if he was, it'd be none of your business."

"We're your best friend's, it's all of our business," Hasegawa shrugged. "We gotta know your man, Saka-chan! How else will we be able to exploit all of his weaknesses if he breaks your heart?"

Noticing Nakano's fists clenching the rough fabric of his jeans, Endo frowned and looked to Hasegawa. "That's enough, Hiroki."

"What?" He tilted his head to the side. "But they were probably about to k-"

"I said _enough_ ," the blond stated more firmly, his head tilting to the side to try and subtly point out Nakano, though the ever-grateful Kusaka just thought Endo was standing up for her.

"Who gives a shit," Nakano grumbled as he walked over to pick his guitar up off its stand beside the amp. "Are we gonna play something or what?"

Kusaka scratched her cheek as she watched him fiddle with the knobs on his guitar, his hair falling in front of his face, hiding himself from view. "Have you been working on anything, Baka?"

Piercing blue eyes flicked up and met hers through the curtain of his messy mop of hair. "It's not ready yet."

"Maybe we can help," she shrugged.

"I don't want your help with this one."

"You – what?" She tilted her head to the side, confused and frankly a little insulted.

Nakano rolled his eyes at her tone of voice, knowing exactly what she was thinking. "Nothing to get all misty-eyed about, drama queen."

"If anyone is a drama queen here, it's you," Kusaka scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Now just get it over with and show us what you've got."

"What have you been working on, Saka-chan?" Endo questioned, trying to take the heat off Nakano before he blew up.

"I-it's embarrassing," she rubbed the back of her neck and looked away, her demeanour changing in a second flat. "You don't wanna hear it."

"Sure we do!" Hasegawa smiled. "It can't be _that_ bad."

"It's not bad per se," she explained. "Just...sappy?" Kusaka groaned and tossed her head back against the couch. "I don't think I can handle more teasing today. Don't make me play it."

Her comment was enough for all three of them to assume it was about Sawamura and while Hasegawa and Endo were about to give her a pass on it this time to spare Nakano's obvious feelings about the situation, Nakano himself needed to know where her head was at and how serious she was about him. "Do it."

"Nakano, dude. I-"

"It's fine," he strummed his perfectly tuned guitar once before lifting the strap over his head and holding the neck of his guitar out in Kusaka's direction. "Let's hear what you've got, Zume-chan. What's a little embarrassment between friends?"

The girl sighed but pulled herself up from her cushiony seat and approached Nakano. She held her hand out for his guitar but instead, he took a step closer and placed the strap over her head himself, setting the instrument into her grasp carefully, wanting a mere moment of closeness with her before the illusion of possibility between them vanished with her song.

"Don't drop it, Klutz," he mumbled as weak cover, adjusting the length of the strap to be appropriate for her.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Baka Naka."

A small smirk pulled up his lips as he locked eyes with her before stepping away, the sarcastic tone in her voice one that he couldn't help but find amusing. "Anytime, Zume-chan."

Settling into Kusaka's previous spot, Nakano folded his arms over his chest and took a deep breath to prepare himself before he looked up at her, waiting for her to start.

Forming the first chord on the fretboard, Kusaka chose a spot on the floor to focus on as she sang, her vulnerability through the roof because while she'd shown them different emotions in her lyrics – affection had never been one of them.

While she strummed, Nakano tried his best to keep his face expressionless. Seeing her standing before him playing his own guitar while singing about her crush on another guy made him feel sick to his stomach, but as he listened to her lyrics, he couldn't be upset with her... he just wished that he had been the one to inspire it.

Her face was as red as a tomato by the time she reached the chorus and Endo kept glancing over at Nakano, waiting for him to fall apart. The guitarist wasn't unaware of the look he was getting from his friend and eventually he smacked his shoulder.

"Stop," he harshly looked at the blond, but the word caught Kusaka's attention and made her abruptly stop playing as she assumed he was talking to her.

"Sorry..." she apologized as she quickly pulled out the auxiliary cord from Nakano's guitar and placed the instrument back on its stand, flipping off the amp as she made her way to sit next to Hasegawa. Never had she felt so bare while performing something and now she was hitting herself internally for thinking it didn't suck.

"Endo was being an idiot," Nakano cleared his throat before continuing, feeling guilty as he watched her fidget with her fingers like she always did when she was nervous. "I wasn't telling _you_ to stop, Suzume. It was good."

"It wasn't," she laughed uncomfortably, trying to shove her insecurity down into the pit of her swirling stomach. "But thanks anyway. I-I'll probably just scrap that one."

"Don't," all three of her bandmates rushed to say at once, leaving her to furrow her eyebrows.

"It's stupid," Kusaka waved them away with a flick of her wrist. "Not our kinda thing."

Her obvious insecurity sent a sharp strike to his heart and he didn't know how to make her feel better, so instead, he figured he might as well get on the same level so she wouldn't feel so alone. He stood from the couch and walked over to his guitar, plugging it back in before running a hand through his hair. "It's not finished but uh," he looked at Kusaka with a sad smile. "You're not the only one with embarrassing shit you know."

She let out a quiet chuckle and nodded. "Alright then. It's your turn to embarrass yourself, Baka Naka."

Picking the opening riff to the song, Nakano kept his gaze on Kusaka. As if the two other people in the room disappeared, he sang to her and only her, needing her to understand that she was his sole intended audience.

_How I don't know how to sing_   
_I can barely play this thing_   
_But you never seem to mind_   
_And you tell me to fuck off_   
_When I need somebody to_   
_How you make me laugh so hard_

 _I know_   
_You might roll your eyes at this_   
_But I'm so_  
 _Glad that you exist_

Kusaka's flush didn't fade and with the intense sincerity that Nakano held in his eyes as he performed, it would've been impossible for her not to grasp that the song was about her. Her heart caught in her throat as she listened attentively, her mother's recent comments running through her mind as she realized that she was right.

Though Kusaka had half a dozen questions running through her head while she processed what was happening, she tried to focus on his song; he had written it for her, after all.

When he finished playing, he rubbed the back of his neck and finally detached his gaze from hers and broke himself free from his trance. He heard her take a deep breath and the moment his given name spilled from her lips, he felt a crack spread across his heart as if someone was walking across a thin sheet of ice.

"Atsuya, I-"

"Don't say it," he interrupted, swallowing down the lump in his throat. "I already know I just...needed you to know I guess."

"O-okay," she stumbled on her words, not knowing what to say next since she knew an apology wasn't what he wanted to hear.

"Well," Hasegawa laced his fingers together and pushed them outwards as he cracked his knuckles, trying to break the awkward air of tension. "Now that that's out of the way, I think we're due to play something fun. I need to hit something after all that sappy stuff."

Pulling her hair out of her face and into a ponytail with an elastic that resided on her wrist, Kusaka nodded. "Agreed. Suggestions?"

"Grilled Cheese?"


	18. Chapter 18

"Uggh!" Kusaka groaned loudly as she stood in front of her mirror wearing a black pleated skirt with a thin forest green scoop neck sweater tucked into it. She fussed with the hem of her skirt, though it was the same length as her school uniform, she wasn't convinced it was long enough to be appropriate to wear to dinner at Sawamura's.

Emiri leaned in the doorway and chuckled. "Since when do you willingly choose a skirt over jeans?"

"Are jeans okay to wear to dinner? Do you think I could get away with that? Would it be too casual? I don't want to make a bad impression."

"I thought you already met his family?"

"Well, yeah. But what if they have a more formal dinner since it's like a tradition?"

"Why don't you just call Sawamura-kun and ask?" Emiri questioned with a raised eyebrow. "It'd save you the hassle."

"And let him know how much I'm overthinking this?" Kusaka scoffed. "That's a horrible idea!"

Chuckling quietly at her daughter's expense, Emiri grinned – it was nice seeing her act like a real teenager for once. "You look great. You should wear that today."

Kusaka sighed and looked in the mirror again, her hands smoothing out her skirt as she inspected it. "It's not too short?"

"No," Emiri shrugged, a small smirk pulling up her lips as she continued. "And I'm sure _Daichi_ will love it."

Pursing her lips, the girl hummed indecisively. It did fit her nicely and it wasn't too casual nor too formal, hopefully it was bordering each line enough that it would be acceptable in either situation.

Emiri walked over to stand behind her daughter and put her hands on her shoulders, squeezing them gently while shooting her a reassuring smile through the mirror. "You know, I bet this look would be extra cute if you pulled your hair up."

"Really?"

"Mhmm," Emiri hummed, lifting her hands from the girl's shoulders to comb loosely through her hair. She pulled it up into a perky ponytail using the hair elastic that resided on her wrist before spinning her daughter to face her. She smiled softly as she pulled out a few strands of hair to frame Suzume's face before tapping her nose playfully shoving her towards the door. "There, perfect. Now go have fun!"

"You thi-"

"Suz!" Emiri laughed. "Just go, already!"

"Right," she grimaced, her heart racing as she quickly waved at her mom before trekking down the stairs and slipping out the door.

When the crisp November air hit her bare legs, immediately Kusaka regretted her decision. It was for the greater good though, right? Sure she'd be a bit cold on her walk over there but it was only one block and then she'd be inside again... plus, if she changed again now, she would only keep changing her mind.

Hearing a timid knock at his front door, Sawamura leapt from the couch in the living room and raced to the entrance. His jaw was slightly slacked as his eyes drank her in, it was the first time he'd seen her in something other than her school uniform or jeans and a t-shirt. Despite thinking that she looked great in both of those types of outfits, he couldn't help but think she looked incredibly cute today – especially with her hair pulled up.

"Um, hi," she rubbed the back of her neck after a moment of silence, her cheeks tinted a soft pink as she watched his eyes wander. "Sorry, is it too much? I can just go home an-"

"No, no, no," he waved his hands in front of his chest as he awkwardly laughed, stepping aside for her to come in. "Don't worry. You look really pretty, Suzume."

Her soft flush burned brighter at his compliment and her stomach swarmed with butterflies – no male aside from her father had ever said that to her before. "T-thanks," she stuttered as she entered the house.

The heavy footsteps of small feet racing down the stairs drew her attention in their direction and Kusaka couldn't help but laugh when she saw Sawamura's sister out of breath and barrelling towards her. "Kusaka-san!"

"Hey, Atsuko-chan," she smiled. "How are you?"

"I'm good! We're really glad you said you'd come today," the girl looked towards her brother and rolled her eyes. "Nii-chan was worried you'd say no but we all told him he was wrong and look, now you're here!"

Kusaka's eyes flickered up to Sawamura's and she leaned closer to him, bumping his shoulder with hers. "Worried, huh?"

"I wouldn't have blamed you if you said no," he shrugged.

Atsuko reached out for Kusaka's wrist and swiftly tugged her toward the kitchen. "Kaa-san and I are making supper. Come help!"

"Atsuko-chan," Sawamura called out sternly, making the girl stop in her tracks and drop Kusaka's arm. "Are you forgetting that she's our guest?"

"Daichi," Kusaka looked over her shoulder at him and gave him a soft smile. "Don't worry so much."

Exhaling heavily, Sawamura took a step closer and slid his hand around the one she had closest to him. Of course he knew that Kusaka wouldn't mind helping, but that didn't mean that he wanted his time with her poached by his little sister. "I figured you might want to hang out for a bit before dinner?"

"I do," she nodded, tightening her fingers around his momentarily. "So why don't we all help? We can visit while we cook, right?"

"If you're sure...you really don't have to."

"I'm sure," her smile widened and before Sawamura could reply, his sister shouted towards the kitchen.

"Kaa-san! They're holding hands again come see!"

"Still think she's not a monster?" Sawamura teased, not letting her slip her fingers away from his out of embarrassment.

Kusaka rolled her eyes and since he wouldn't let her detach from his hand, she pulled him toward the kitchen while she followed after Atsuko.

"There you all are," Maki hummed, a smirk pulling up her lips as she immediately zeroed in on the pair's clasped hands. "You're right, Atsuko-chan. They're pretty cute together, huh?"

"Oh, um," Kusaka rubbed the back of her neck with her free hand. "We'r-"

"I know, I know," Maki waved away the air of awkwardness with a smile. "Come on, let Atsuko show you our recipe."

"Sure," Kusaka hummed.

"Oh, and Daichi," his mother called out. "Would you mind grabbing an apron for Kusaka-chan, please? She looks so nice today, I'd hate to see her outfit get dirty."

Slipping his hand away from hers, Sawamura gave Kusaka a gentle nudge in his sister's direction, spurring her into motion before making his way towards the drawer that housed several clean aprons. He pulled out three folded items, the top one, a red and white checkered apron he plopped on top of his sister's head. The girl laughed and scrambled to pull it on, not bothering to tie it up at the back as she continued to point out recipe instructions to Kusaka.

The second in his stack was his mother's favourite – a once-vibrant yellow apron with a tiny embroidered bee on a left breast pocket, a gift from her late husband. He shook it out and tapped his mother's shoulder, placing it around her neck as she turned to face him. "Thank you," she hummed with a smile, reaching around to secure the ties at the back.

Finally, the faded sky-blue with faint pinstripes apron was left and he took the neck loop in one hand as he approached Kusaka, the fingers of his free hand picking up hers and tugging her away from his sister. After he draped the apron's loop over her head, Kusaka's hands instinctually searched for the strings to tie and once she found them, Sawamura's hand grazed over her skin, slipping the ties away from her grasp. He stepped behind her and tied a small bow before wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder.

Hearing her breath hitch from his bold action, he chuckled softly in her ear. "Sorry," he tightened his hold momentarily. "The opportunity to hug you presented itself and I couldn't pass it up."

She hummed approvingly as she turned her strawberry shaded cheek towards his voice. It was moments like this that it felt as if the whole world froze with only the two of them left in motion. His touch was enough to make her knees weak, but his deep voice vibrating quietly in her ear turned her to mush and if she died right then and there, she would've died happy. Her lips curved shyly upward before she covered his clasped hands with hers, patting them tenderly as she acknowledged his gesture.

Maki glanced over her shoulder at them and smiled to herself before she cleared her throat and interrupted. "If you guys are gonna be all cutesy, can you at least work on the tonkatsu?"

Kusaka cringed while her blush became fiercer and as she tried to take a step out of Sawamura's hold, he merely kept his grip in place and walked with her to the counter, leaving her to laugh. "I don't think this is what she meant, Daichi."

"It works, though," he defended, unclasping his hands to reach forward and pick up a bowl off the counter. She tossed her head back against his shoulder and grinned at him, her heart fluttering from his continued close contact despite the presence of his family. "You're such a dork."

"Takes one to know one," he teased, a smirk pulling up his lips as his eyes met hers.

"Touché."

\---

"Why don't you kids set up a movie while I get everything cleaned up?" Maki smiled across the table at Daichi. "I'll meet you there after."

"I'll help you, Maki-san," Kusaka chimed in before Sawamura could respond and began to place the cleared plates into a pile.

"Suzume," Sawamura placed a hand on her forearm. "You can relax, you're still a guest here you know."

"It's no trouble," she hummed, standing up and bringing the stack of dishes and collected cutlery into the kitchen.

"She's quite stubborn," Maki chuckled as she raised an eyebrow at her son. "You sure you can handle that?"

"Absolutely," he smiled thoughtfully, glancing over his shoulder towards the kitchen where she had trotted off to. "You and I both know that stubbornness can be a good thing too."

Standing up from the table, Sawamura added, "And even when her stubbornness isn't a good thing, she's got a sound mind and a big heart – I'm not too concerned."

"Alright, Casanova," Maki snickered. "Go set up the movie. Something we can all enjoy, alright?"

"You got it."

After packing away the leftovers from their meal, Maki grabbed a dishtowel from the oven door handle and began to dry the dishes in the sink.

"It's nice that you have a tradition like this, Maki-san," she glanced over at the older woman. "It was really kind of you to include me. Thank you."

"I think I should be thanking you, actually," Maki hummed as she placed a dried plate into the open cupboard to her right.

"Me?" Kusaka questioned, confusion evident in her voice. "I didn't do anything."

"The past few weeks I've seen Daichi smile much more than ever before."

"He's pretty excited about Nationals," the girl shrugged. "It's practically all him, Suga-san, and Azumane-san talk about at lunch. They worked really hard and it's paying off, that's gotta feel good, right?"

"I don't think that's it," Maki chuckled. "It's _different_."

Tilting her head slightly, Kusaka replied. "Different, how?"

"He's not smiling to be polite anymore," Maki stacked another clean plate before grabbing a wet glass from Kusaka's hand. "He's smiling because he's happier and finally getting to see you two together last week confirmed to me the reason why, Kusaka-chan."

Focusing her eyes on the sudsy water in the sink, a blush beginning the burn Kusaka's cheeks but she couldn't help the small smile that tugged at her lips. "He makes me feel happier too, Maki-san," she murmured, thinking back to how she'd felt a few weeks ago compared to today. "A lot happier, actually."

Maki's heart warmed seeing Kusaka so thoughtfully thinking of her son and she elbowed the girl's side. "I'm glad it's mutual then."

"Me too," she hummed.

When the dishes were done, Maki and Kusaka joined the three Sawamura kids in the living room. Positioning herself between her two youngest children on the couch directly in front of the TV, Maki motioned for Kusaka to sit next to Daichi on the loveseat perpendicular to her.

Atusko quickly pressed play on the remote before looking back at Kusaka. "You're gonna love this one. It's one of my favourites!"

"I'm sure I will, Suko-chan," she smiled. "If it's one of your favourites then it must be good."

"It is," the young girl nodded and faced forward.

"It's not," Sawamura whispered quietly and Kusaka raised a hand to cover her lips and hold back her laugh.

Out of nowhere, a throw blanket was tossed towards the pair, leaving Kusaka thankful for Sawamura's quick reflexes, otherwise it would have hit her face. "Oops," Maki chuckled. "Bad aim. Thought you might be a little cold though, Kusaka-san."

"Oh," the girl glanced down at her bare legs and nodded. "Thank you."

"SHHHH! It's starting!" Atusko hissed, not wanting to miss any dialogue.

Kusaka shook her head with a silent laugh and Sawamura draped the blanket over her legs. She glanced up at him and whispered, "Want to share?"

He shrugged and leaned closer to her ear, using his sister's previous shushing as an excuse to be near. "Up to you, Hummingbird."

"You should be comfy too," she murmured, tucking her legs up underneath her as she repositioned herself closer to her crush and spread the blanket across his lap as well.

He hummed a quiet thank you before also shifting nearer to her, completely closing the gap that had resided between them as he lifted his arm to wrap around her shoulder. Kusaka's heart thudded repeatedly against the cage in her chest and she let out a shaky breath. Despite having been close to him a few other times before, there was still a part of her that was completely terrified of doing the wrong thing. She kept waiting for the other shoe to fall, waiting for him to say _sike_.

Her anxious exhale hadn't gone unnoticed by Sawamura, who angled his chin down so his lips were closer to her ear. "Is this okay, Suzume?"

She nodded hesitantly and he hummed in her ear once again, eager to do right by her. "It's okay if it's too much for you. I don't want you to be uncomfortable."

"I'm not uncomfortable," she breathed, shyly peering up at him. "Just a bit...um...nervous."

He smiled sweetly and gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze. "Good nervous or bad nervous?"

"Good nervous," Kusaka murmured, amused that he felt the need for her to clarify further. "Obviously."

Sawamura chuckled softly at her response. "I'm glad."

Taking a deep breath to try and calm nerves, Kusaka exhaled slowly and relaxed into his embrace, her head resting against his shoulder as he let his fingers absentmindedly caress her arm. After he felt her breathing regulate, Sawamura tilted his chin down to rest his cheek against the top of her head and his words were hushed as they left his lips. "I'm really happy you're here tonight, Suzume."

A soft smile painted across her face and she lifted her hand slightly behind her to tenderly cup his cheek, her unanticipated touch causing his breath to quietly hitch upon contact. She hadn't been this forward with him before and moths flapped in his stomach while she briefly ran her thumb across his jaw ever so softly before letting it fall back into her lap. "I'm happy I'm here too."

Sawamura's entire face flushed but the grin on his face would be plastered there for the rest of the evening as he willed himself to commit everything about this moment to memory.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/n: I'll add the song in a future chapter to be more impactful, for now, sorry! Just a few lyrics.)

"Tsukki!" 

Hearing his name called as he passed by the band room on his way to the cafeteria, the tall blond sighed and took a few steps backwards, ending up staring through the doorway. 

With her guitar propped up on her knee and her fingers already forming a chord on the fretboard, she looked at the first year with hopeful eyes. "Mind listening to something for me?" 

"I'd rather not." 

"Come on, please?" 

"What's in it for me?" 

"The satisfaction of knowing that you've helped a friend in need." 

"Meh. That doesn't really appeal to me," he shrugged before giving her a small wave and turning away, fully intending on actually helping her but wanting to make her work for it. 

"Wait!" 

Tsukishima let out an exaggerated sigh yet paused, waiting for her to continue. 

Kusaka scratched her cheek, not sure what she could offer. "I'll, uh, owe you a favour?" 

"I'm listening," he hummed, a smirk pulling up his lips. 

"I don't know, what do you want? This will literally take less than five minutes." 

Crossing his arms confidently, Tsukishima leaned against the door frame. "I reserve the right to cash in this favour whenever I want. Deal?" 

"Yeah, yeah, sure. Whatever," she waved away the notion before getting to her actual point. "So, I wrote something for, um,” she glanced away and took a deep breath, knowing she was admitting her crush to yet another person. “For Daichi but I don’t know if I should play it for him or if he’d actually like it...it’s pretty cheesy and well... I know you’d tell me the truth. So be brutally honest, okay?" 

The blond nodded as he walked into the room and took a seat in the metal folding chair across from her. Not wasting any time, Kusaka began to sing, softly strumming her guitar while keeping her eyes focused on Tsukishima’s white runners, eager to hear his opinion.

Though Kusaka had sent him a text earlier saying that she was just going to work on a new song at lunch today, with how close they’d become lately Sawamura couldn’t stay away. If there was time that he could be spending with her, that’s exactly what he wanted to be doing and today was no exception. 

After getting caught up in a conversation with a classmate about an upcoming test, Sawamura made his way toward the band room. When he was at the opposite end of the hall the classroom resided in, the warm tones of Kusaka’s guitar tickled his ears and a smile spread across his lips. 

_And you say my name_   
_My legs support a little less_   
_My tongue becomes a little mess_   
_My lips are longing to confess_   
_My lungs they catch on every breath_   
_My heart beats harder at the cage_   
_Inside my chest_

Approaching the doorway, the words she sweetly sang became clearer and his heart picked up pace - this was definitely a change lyrically compared to other songs of hers that he’d heard and he couldn’t help but wonder - and hope - that he was the one to inspire it. She strummed her final note as he poked his head into the door and the curve of his lips instantly dropped along with his stomach when he saw Tsukishima sitting across from her with a smug smile. 

“So,” she sheepishly spoke, rubbing the back of her neck as she turned away from Tsukishima’s judging gaze. “What did you think?” 

Seeing her so bashful only solidified the conclusion that Sawamura immediately jumped to - _Kusaka had feelings for Tsukishima._ His eyebrows furrowed and he backed away from the door, spinning on his heels to get away from there as fast as possible before he could witness anything else and get hurt even more. 

A wave of nausea crashed over him and his chest tightened as he pushed open the doors that led out of the building, needing fresh air. Gripping his hair at the roots, Sawamura turned a corner and found an unoccupied bench to sit at while his mind ran in circles, wondering if he had only imagined everything he thought they shared. Had he really let himself lose sight of reality enough that he thought she felt it too when she didn’t? Every electric shock he felt when their hands met, every heart-warming laugh, every shy smile… _was it all one-sided?_

Meanwhile, Tsukishima smirked at Kusaka’s sudden mousy behaviour, amused that someone he considered to be quite confident could be reduced to such a ball of nerves because of her hormones. It wasn’t a secret that Kusaka reciprocated Sawamura’s feelings, it was obvious to him each time he’d seen them interact and despite his constant goading, he didn’t think they would be such a terrible match. 

Of course, Tsukishima was Tsukishima and he wasn’t going to hold back his honest opinion of her song to spare her feelings - especially when he was asked to be brutal. 

“It sucked,” he shrugged. “It was cheesy and gross and,” he dramatically touched his ear and checked his fingertips. “Oh, wow, my ears weren’t bleeding. That’s a surprise.” 

“Uggggh,” Kusaka groaned, tossing her head back for a moment before straightening up. “I shouldn’t do it then, right? I mean, I really envy Nakano’s courage to play his song for me the other day but I don’t know if I could handle the rejection afterwards,” Kusaka dragged her hands down her cheeks in frustration, pulling her eyelids down like a child having a meltdown. “A song is way more embarrassing than just saying it.”

“Wait-” Tsukishima raised an eyebrow at the girl. “That other guy wrote a song for you?” 

“Y-yeah. It was really sweet and everything but um...kinda awkward,” she admitted, scratching her cheek as she met Tsukishima’s gaze. “He’s like one of my best friends, I just don’t see him that way, you know?”

“Interesting,” he hummed, seeing an opportunity to further tease her. “And so you’re going to steal his confession idea to use for Sawamura?”

“I had already played Daichi’s song for the guys before he played his, it’s hardly stealing,” she defended with a subtle pout. “It’s not like he has the patent on love songs.”

“Oh, it’s a _love song_ now?” He smirked, watching as her cheeks tinted a deeper shade of red. “I thought it was just an innocent confession from the little lone wolf.” 

Kusaka frowned at Tsukishima, knowing arguing about what she felt was going to be a fruitless battle anyway. “You’re a real butt head, you know that?” 

Tsukishima couldn’t hold back his laughter at her childish insult. “I’d like to argue with you, but I think you’re right about that one.” 

The blond stood up and stretched out his arms as he walked toward the door. Kusaka’s lips were pursed as she stared down at the six steel strings beneath her right hand, obviously deep in thought - and not in a positive way. 

Taking one last look at his friend before leaving, Tsukishima grumbled a string of curses under his breath and rolled his eyes. He knew that Sawamura would be putty in her damn hand if she shared the song she wrote for him and in a moment of weakness, decided to throw her a bone because he hated seeing that look on her face. “You should play your song for him.” 

Her eyes darted over to him, narrowing suspiciously. “You’re just messing with me.” 

“I thought you were smart, Kusaka-san,” Tsukishima shrugged, pulling his headphones up over his ears. “But you’re an idiot if you think he won’t like it.” 

The smile that swept across her features was thanks enough to Tsukishima, who simply left without another word. Kusaka, with a surge of confidence after her most honest friend gave her the green light, pulled out her phone and tapped on her conversation with Sawamura. 

**Hummingbird**  
Have a second to stop by the band room before class?

Feeling his phone vibrate in his pocket, Sawamura fished out the device only to find his frown deepening when he read the message. Knowing he wouldn’t be able to hold up his end of a conversation with her right now, he replied as politely as he could muster.

 **Daichi**  
Kinda busy, sorry. 

**Hummingbird**  
It’ll be quick. Promise!

Sawamura scoffed to himself. She was probably just going to tell him how happy she was to be with Tsukishima or something - ripping off the bandaid quick before class. He didn’t have it in him to hear that. Not today. Not so soon…he at least needed a day to process it before he’d have to face the music. 

Kusaka’s foot anxiously tapped as she waited in the band room until the last possible second left on their lunch period, hoping that even if he was busy he might try and pop by. Trying not to let herself get discouraged, the brunette figured that he ended up getting in some volleyball practice at lunch and that’s why he didn’t respond. 

It wasn’t until class ended and Sawamura didn’t bother to stop by her desk like he normally did that she even considered something was wrong. Before she could blink, he was out of the classroom and she sloppily shoved her books into her messenger bag to follow suit. 

“Geez, slow down long legs,” she teased as she finally fell into step with him, despite his subtle attempt to get away without being obvious.

“Isn’t your class in the other direction?” Sawamura questioned, his eyes focused straight ahead as if he was a race horse wearing blinders. 

“Well, yeah,” Kusaka bumped his shoulder, trying to get a reaction out of him. “Never stopped you before though, it’s about time it was my turn, huh?”

Sawamura’s jaw clenched, frustrated with how constricted his chest felt right now and how his stomach still flip-flopped despite knowing that his feelings were one-sided. For the first time - he didn’t want to feel like this around her anymore. He wished he could just flick a switch and turn off his emotions...but he couldn’t. 

Noticing his tense posture only began to worry Kusaka more. “Daichi?”

The concern heard in a mere two syllables pained him and when he glanced down at her accidentally, seeing apprehension obvious in her eyes only made it worse and he had to force himself to look away. He cleared his throat before replying, knowing that he had to say something even if he was hurt. “Yeah?” 

“Are you okay?” 

“Mhmm,” he hummed, forcing a smile to his lips as he quickly looked at her and then reverted his line of vision back to the hallway. 

An annoyed huff slipped past Kusaka’s lips - he certainly wasn’t a very convincing liar. “It’s fine if you don’t want to talk about whatever’s bugging you Daichi,” she sighed. “Don’t gotta lie about it though…” 

Feeling Kusaka’s hand brush against the back of his made him more aware of the lack of distance between them and he took a conscious step away to change that. After her stomach lurched, the girl frowned at the space. Was he upset because she didn’t have lunch with them today? That hardly seemed like a reason to act so stand-offish, but Kusaka tried to shake it off anyway. Everyone had bad days, right? Maybe this was just one of his… 

“I’m sorry I bailed on lunch with you guys, I just needed to work on something and I was actually hoping you might have some time to listen? Or uh,” she scratched her cheek sheepishly. “Talk?” 

“ _Talk_ ,” he muttered under his breath, feeling like the word was dooming him to listen to everything he was afraid of hearing her say. “About what?”

“Stuff?” Kusaka laughed awkwardly as she looked at the crowded hallway. “I’d rather do it in private though…” 

“Another time,” Sawamura swallowed thickly as he painted a plastic smile on his face, relieved that they’d made it to his next class already. “You’d better hurry or you’ll be late for band.” 

“Bu-”

“I’ve got to get ready for class. Sorry, Kusaka-san.” Sawamura rubbed the back of his neck as he turned away, letting his smile fall the moment he knew it would be out of her sight - he just didn’t have the heart to pretend if he didn’t have to.

Standing in front of the classroom door with a dejected expression, the girl felt an arrow fly straight through her heart. She wrapped her arms around herself as she questioned the one thing that hurt her the most from their uncomfortable conversation. “ _Kusaka-san?_ ” 

-

Sawamura looked forward to volleyball practice today more than ever. Well, he did until Tsukishima walked into the gym - the first year’s very presence reminding him of why he was in such a foul mood. 

Unfortunately for Sawamura, Tsukishima had always been a very observant person and although no one could ignore such a blatantly obvious glare, the blond had never been one to keep quiet. Raising a curious eyebrow, he prompted his upperclassman to respond. “Something wrong, Captain?” 

“I don’t want to hear it, Tsukishima,” he spat, earning Sugawara’s immediate attention from the bench a few feet away. 

“You don’t want to hear what?” He tilted his head to the side before a lightbulb went off in his mind. “Ooooh, is this about your little girlfriend’s best friend confessing? Feeling a little jealous, are we?” 

Sawamura’s entire face fell flat. _Someone confessed to Suzume?_ “ _What?_ ” 

Genuine surprise flickered across Tsukishima’s expression, he had been sure that’s what would’ve prompted such an unsolicited glower from him because he wouldn’t want to be provoked about it. “Huh,” he shrugged. “Guess not then.” 

Tsukishima turned to walk away but only managed to get a few steps in before Sawamura grabbed his elbow and stopped him. “What happened?” 

“It was no secret you had some competition, Sawamura-san,” he replied simply, tugging his arm free before heading towards a gawking Yamaguchi on the bench. 

“Daichi,” Sugawara placed a hand on his shoulder, finally getting to ask the question that was on all of their minds. “Did something happen between you and Kusaka-san?” 

“Yes,” he grumbled, running a hand through his hair before meeting his friend’s concerned gaze. “Well, no. Kind of?” 

Sugawara let out a somber chuckle. “That didn’t sound very convincing. Which is it?” 

“I just..” he shook his head, glancing towards Tsukishima with a frown. “I thought she liked me...not him.” 

The vice-captain breathed a sigh of relief as he swatted the top of his friend’s head. “She does like you, idiot.” 

“Not enough, apparently.” 


	20. Chapter 20

To say Kusaka was frustrated with Sawamura would be an understatement. He didn't answer her text messages and he was practically impossible to find at school. After checking the cafeteria and the gym at lunch, Kusaka roamed Karasuno's halls, desperate to find him and get this confession over with while she still had the nerve but the longer she searched, the more annoyed she became.

Pushing open the main doors of the school, a burst of cold air blew her hair in her face and she not-so-gracefully clawed it back into place with an unenthused grumble. Once her vision was unobstructed, she saw the back of a Sawamura's head as he was walking toward an unoccupied bench and took a deep breath. _Here goes..._

"Daichi!" She called out to him but he kept walking, only adding fuel to the fire of her annoyance. "Don't you dare pretend you didn't hear me!"

Seeing his shoulders slump in defeat, he stopped in his tracks and she raced over to him. Standing before him with her hands on her hips and a frown etched into her lips had Sawamura struggling to stifle his laughter - he'd never seen her mad before and he definitely didn't anticipate her looking so cute.

"What is your problem?"

"Nothing," he sighed, her questions bringing him back to reality. After spending hours last night laying in his bed staring at his ceiling recalling all the moments he truly thought meant something to both of them, he had been dreading today. He wanted to be able to live in the memory of his assumed delusion for just a little longer... but it seemed she was just not going to let that happen.

"Bullshit," Kusaka scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Are you just mad that I didn't have lunch with you yesterday? Because if that's what this is about, you're being ridiculous."

Sawamura ran a hand through his hair. "It's not _exactly_ that."

"Then what is it? Or are you just going to avoid me forever now? Because I'm not okay with that," she pursed her lips as she glanced at her feet, she didn't want to tell him like this...but she needed to get through to him. It was eating her alive that she was finally ready to say something but he wasn't even interested in listening.

"Well, I-"

"You know what?" She interrupted him defiantly. Now that she had his attention, she had to make the most of it. "It doesn't matter. You're coming with me."

Sawamura's head tilted to the side. "Uh, what?"

"You keep avoiding me when all I want is to tell you something and you're going to listen," she grabbed his wrist at his side and swiftly turned on her heels, stomping away and towing him behind her with a surprising amount of strength.

"Suzume, what are you doing?"

"Oh, so _now_ it's Suzume," she grumbled.

"Huh?" Confusion laced his tone as he stayed a pace behind her and she threw a half-hearted glare back at him.

"You couldn't be bothered to address me by my name yesterday," Kusaka pointed out a little louder than she intended, drawing attention to them as she led Sawamura to the band room.

"You're upset about that?"

Facing forward once again, the brunette's heavy heart led her to reply at a volume just above a whisper. "Of course I'm upset about that."

The obvious ache in her voice brought Sawamura's attention to her grip on his wrist and he readjusted to properly hold her hand whilst speeding up to her hasty steps enough to walk beside her rather than slightly behind. He was so busy being upset with the situation that he didn't stop to think of how his sudden change in demeanour might have affected her until now. Even if she did have a thing for Tsukishima - _or_ Nakano - that didn't mean he wanted her to be upset. She deserved to be happy and if that arrogant shit disturber makes her happy then as her friend... and as someone who cares about her, he should support her, right?

"I'm sorry," he breathed, tightening their laced fingers for a long moment as he wondered if this was the final time he'd get to hold her hand. His thumb brushed against her skin in the repetitive motion he knew she found calming and when she peered back up at him, her tempestuous eyes were unreadable.

Kusaka's emotions swirled within her, overwhelming her with everything all at once. She was angry at him for ignoring her, frustrated with herself for not understanding what she did wrong, relieved that she had finally gotten his attention, and overjoyed that he was willingly holding her hand. But with her wide range of emotions also came the anxiety of knowing what she was about to do and how badly it would hurt if he rejected her.

The girl's lack of reply worried Sawamura even more but as they reached their destination, the feeling of dread began to sink in. "Alright," he sighed. "Get it over with."

With a new lump in her throat, Kusaka swallowed thickly and separated their hands. Did he already know what she was going to do? Did Tsukishima tell him? "G-get it over with?" She sputtered incredulously. _"...Really?_ "

"I'm sorry," he ran a hand through his short brown hair as he averted his eyes. "I guess I'm just not exactly looking forward to this conversation."

His response just brought Kusaka's frustration up another notch and her eyebrows furrowed. Sure, she could just save them both the trouble of having a shitty conversation and let it go, but she wrote him that song and she'd be damned if he didn't hear it.

"Well, you know what," she huffed, walking over to the stand that cradled her guitar. "I don't care. You're going to listen to my damn song and if you hate it that much and don't want to talk about it then you can just leave."

"Y-your song?" His eyes widened, he thought she just wanted a private place to talk...

Kusaka took a deep breath as she settled into a metal chair with her Fender protectively against her body as if it would act as a shield to her heart. "Yeah," she nodded to a seat across from her before plugging in her patch cord. "I wrote something for you."

Swallowing thickly she looked back up at Sawamura, a blush beginning to rise to her cheeks as her stomach spun like a washing machine. "I wasn't sure if I should actually play it for you but Tsukki said I should and well...sounds like I'm about to make a fool of myself anyway, so um, go easy on me I guess."

She strummed the first note and brought her eyes down to the steel sextet beneath her fingertips, ready to lay all her cards out on the table for him.

_When you're near_   
_My heart starts beating faster_   
_The world starts moving slower_   
_And I just freeze_

After singing the first few lines, her strumming picked up pace slightly and her eyes flickered up to his, catching the look of surprise fading into a soft smile as realization set in. She was asking Tsukishima's advice about sharing her song with him... she _wrote_ it for him... ** _about_** him.

_And it's cold, the steam escapes_   
_Through my lips and dissipates_   
_And you breathe it in_   
_We all breathe it in_   
_Your smile it makes me weak_   
_And the red spreads to my cheeks_   
_You make me feel three glasses in_

Grinning from ear to ear with a flush as vibrant as crimson roses, Sawamura soaked up every word she sang to him like a sponge. Immersing himself fully in the moment, he tried to observe as many of her little intricacies as he could. She was wearing her winter uniform sweater with her sleeves pushed up while she leaned slightly over her guitar, her hair parted down the center but tucked behind each ear to be kept out of her face. He wanted to memorize the way her cheeks were glowing with a peachy hue and how her eyes were now sincerely focused solely on him, pouring her heart out to him with each note.

_And you say my name_   
_My legs support a little less_   
_My tongue becomes a little mess_   
_My lips are longing to confess_   
_My lungs they catch on every breath_   
_My heart beats harder at the_ _cage_   
_Inside my chest_

Kusaka's lips twitched up into a smile as he began to tap his foot along with the beat, the action only bringing his attention to focus on her luscious blush coloured lips and how ardently he wished to find out if they felt as soft as they looked.

Her heart sprinted a marathon as she gauged Sawamura's response - watching him go from irritable to beaming in only a handful of moments was confusing but made her that much more hopeful that she made the right choice.

Though Sawamura thoroughly enjoyed her song, by the end of the second verse and return to the chorus, he was having trouble sitting still. He felt so foolish for having doubted both her and himself and now that she left him with no option but to believe that she was interested in him - all he wanted was to show her he felt the same way.

The second the last note was plucked from her guitar, Sawamura had swiftly risen from his seat and approached her. His hands found their way to cup her cheeks and the intensity of his gaze paired with his warm touch had her forgetting every single thing that wasn't him. Sawamura's head dipped down to her level and Kusaka's breathing hitched as she felt his lips brush against hers.

Though their lips collided in an instant, the anticipation sparking between them forced time to move in slow motion despite the raging pace of their hearts. Fireworks exploded in Kusaka's chest as she savoured the taste of his kiss, the press of his lips a feeling she knew she'd never be able to forget – not that she would ever want to.

"You're _amazing_ , Suzume," Sawamura murmured as he parted, resting his forehead against hers in an effort to retain as much closeness as possible.

Her eyes studied his intently as she breathed her reply, afraid that if she spoke above a whisper she'd wake up from her dream. "So you liked it then?"

"I'm so glad that's what you wanted to say," he chuckled softly, rubbing his thumbs against her warm skin before pressing his lips delicately against hers for a fleeting moment. "Much better than what I was expecting."

Her lips parted as she let out a shaky exhale, her galloping heart practically half-way through a Kentucky Derby at this point. "What were you expecting?"

Sawamura sighed and pulled away from her, the quiet whine of objection that escaped her only making him feel dafter for what he was about to admit. He tugged his chair closer to hers and plopped down into it before rubbing the back of his neck. "To put it simply: rejection."

"What on earth would give you that idea?" Her forehead creased as she waited for more of an explanation.

"I came to see you yesterday at lunch but you were with Tsukishima... singing this to him," he bit the inside of his cheek. "I figured you had feelings for him and that I misread things between us."

Kusaka sighed and reached out for his hand. Once their fingers intertwined, Sawamura added, "And then Tsukishima also mentioned you had been on the receiving end of a confession..." he squeezed her hand as his questioning gaze met hers. "Nakano, I'm assuming?"

"Yeah...Tsukishima has a big mouth, doesn't he?" The girl rolled her eyes.

"So do you um..." Sawamura trailed off, not wanting to finish the question as a sliver of doubt poked its way into his heart.

"I don't have feelings for him. For either of them," Kusaka freely offered, her lips curving as she tugged her hand free to place her guitar back into its stand. "Just you."

With a sheepish laugh, Sawamura shook his head. "I guess I kinda overreacted, huh?"

" _Kinda?_ If you had a superpower it would be jumping to conclusions," she teased with a smirk that only charmed him further and made him crave more of the intimacy they'd only now allowed between them.

Sawamura leaned forward and gripped the leg of her chair, pulling her next to him with a jolt that made her squeak in surprise. He captured her chin between his thumb and forefinger, guiding her face closer to his at a painstakingly slow pace. "How could I not worry you might be interested in someone else?" He questioned lowly, nudging her nose with his. "You're too good to be true, Hummingbird."

"That's a little dramatic, don't you think?" She teased, pressing her lips gently against his in an innocent kiss.

"No," he murmured, smiling against her lips. "It's not."


	21. Chapter 21

A permanent smile played upon Kusaka's lips from the moment Sawamura kissed her until the moment she laid down in her bed that night. Replaying their first kiss over and over in her head had her finally feeling like the void she was struggling to ignore was starting to go away. Well, it did until she realized one tiny detail about today that she hadn't considered - Sawamura never actually said if he reciprocated her feelings, he merely complimented her.

In fact - she had no clue as to where they stood at all. Sure, she confessed, but did that change anything? How would he act towards her at school now? Should she try to hold his hand? Would he try to kiss her again?

Kusaka's eyes widened. _What if I was a bad kisser? What if he was just being polite about it? What if it was horrible and he told all his friends how bad it was an-_

she slapped her hands on both her cheeks to stop her racing thoughts. _He would never do that. Well...at least I don't think he would..._

Sawamura, on the other hand, was completely, and unreservedly elated. Not only did his crush reciprocate his feelings - she wrote an actual _song_ about how he made her feel. His good mood also attributed to him playing at the best of his ability during practice today and everyone noticed. Even Tsukishima's taunts about how 'it only took a girl confessing to him to make him a better volleyball player' didn't get under his skin. After Kusaka's confession today, Sawamura was on top of the world; there was nothing he couldn't handle.

Kusaka barely slept that night and she spent the entirety of the next morning at school avoiding hallways she knew Sawamura travelled to get to classes wherever possible. She had no idea how she should be around him now and if she was being honest with herself - she was scared.

She was scared that things might not actually change between them and she was also scared that they _would_ change one way or another. Kusaka had next to no experience with situations like this and her inability to decide how she should be around him had her making every attempt to avoid him until she figured it out.

Of course, with her luck, as she scampered in the opposite direction of the cafeteria after the lunch bell rang she turned a corner and nearly ran into the person she was trying to avoid. The corners of Sawamura's eyes crinkled while he beamed at her. "Just the beauty I've been looking for."

"Hah," she rubbed the back of her neck as she glanced away, her cheeks staining pink from his compliment. "Um, hi."

Sawamura titled his head to the side. "Something wrong?"

"No?" Kusaka replied, cringing as she realized her inflection made it sound like a question rather than a straightforward answer.

"Somehow I'm not convinced," he chuckled, trying to make her feel more at ease. "Tell me about it over lunch?"

"Oh, um," she scratched her cheek, trying her best to ignore the spinning of her empty stomach while she paid too much attention to her shoes. "It's nothing."

Unable to ignore the obvious signs of her apprehensive state, Sawamura reached out for her hand only to notice the slight tremble of her fingers. "Hey," he murmured, picking them up and loosely holding them in his hand as he ran his thumb across her knuckles. "What's going on, hmm?"

The affectionate touch and thoughtful tone of his voice both soothed and confused Kusaka more. Her eyes flickered up to meet his and she pursed her lips as her eyebrows knitted together, just the sight of him had her remembering the fireworks she felt exploding within her when he gifted her with a kiss.

"I-I'm sure you don't want to talk about it and I don't want to make things um...weird between us."

"Weird between us?" He questioned quietly, his heart sinking into his stomach as he swallowed back the lump in his throat. "Are you regretting what you said yesterday? Should I not have kissed you? Was that too much?"

Sawamura pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand. "I should have asked. I shouldn't have been so impulsive. I'm really s-"

"No, no, no" Kusaka interrupted, her cheeks burning brightly as she waded through uncharted territory. "It's not that it's just..."

He let out an audible breath of relief as he tightened his hold on her hand. "Just?"

"You didn't really say anything back," she mumbled quietly, studying their clasped hands. "And I know the kiss probably sucked for you because I've never done that before and I don't know if that changes anything..."

A line appeared between Sawamura's eyebrows as he thought back to what _he_ had said, rather than focusing on what she had. "I didn't?"

A lock of hair fell in front of Kusaka's eyes as she shook her head side to side and Sawamura was quick to sweep it back into place, cupping her cheek to bring her attention up to him in the process. "I'm pretty sure I told you how incredible you are," his lips gently curved into a reassuring smile. "And _really?_ I wouldn't have guessed that was your first kiss, Suzume."

"It was," she bit her bottom lip at the thought of it once again.

"I'm honoured to have been the recipient of it," he hummed. "Although I'm sorry I kinda stole it."

Despite taking a deep breath to try and settle her nerves, she couldn't help feeling like Sawamura was avoiding giving a straight answer about how he felt. "Daichi," Kusaka's voice dripped with uncertainty and she hated that she felt so insecure, so vulnerable. "If you don't-"

"Suzume," he smiled sweetly, not wanting to even let her finish the sentence. "I have been teased mercilessly for _weeks_ about the crush I have on you. Can you really not tell?"

Relief rushed over her but her embarrassment only increased and she shifted uncomfortably. "It's not exactly something one should assume..."

"It was safe to assume that I feel the same about you when I kissed you, you know," he mused, twirling the ends of a strand of her hair around his finger as he teased her. "I certainly don't just go around kissing girls I don't have feelings for."

"Maybe you just got swept up in the moment or something," she defended, her bottom lip jutting out slightly in the cutest pout Sawamura had ever seen. "I'm not a mind reader."

Sawamura's lips pulled into a smirk as he continued, wanting to leave no room for her to doubt him but also wanting to show her how little she had to worry. "And my concerns about you liking other guys? Those were also not indicators of my feelings?"

Kusaka rolled her eyes. He was right - she knew he was - but it still mattered to her to hear it. She wanted to have no doubts in her mind and she wanted to be able to remember his words when she inevitably doubted herself anyway. "It's different to hear it said...there's no room for mistakes."

Slipping her chin between his thumb and finger, Sawamura tilted it up to position her in a more advantageous way as he lessened the distance between them. His eyes focused on her mouth as his nose brushed against hers, teasing her for a moment longer.

"I have an _astronomically large_ crush on you, Suzume Kusaka," he breathed his confession against her lips before gifting her a tender kiss. "I'm sorry I didn't say that sooner."

"Okay," Kusaka hummed, her mind a complete fog as she focused on the ghost of his lingering kiss.

" _Okay?_ " He laughed before pecking her lips innocently. "I confess to you and your response is 'okay'?"

The brunette rolled her eyes as he brought her back to reality, taking a step away from him when she heard a snicker from a passing peer. "I already confessed, don't make it sound like I just left you hanging."

"Well, I don't want to _assume_ ," he shot her a sly smile as he stepped forward to counteract her retreat.

"I like you, okay?" Kusaka chuckled, finally giving in to his teasing and loosening up a little. "Happy now?"

"Not quite."

Kusaka crossed her arms over her chest with a sigh. "Why not?"

"Because you haven't agreed to be my girlfriend yet," Sawamura shrugged.

Her flushed cheeks only made her oddly confident arched eyebrow more endearing. "You didn't ask, now did you?"

"Oh, I didn't?" He mused knowingly, slipping his hand around hers and lacing their fingers together as he tugged her into motion.

"Nope," Kusaka popped the 'P'.

"Huh," he smirked, stealing a glance over at the girl that had her name carved into his heart. "Well, be ready for that."

\---

"Daichiiii," Sugawara groaned in annoyance as he playfully punched his friend's stomach a few times. "Did you seriously not ask her?!"

"I, er-" Sawamura swatted Suga away and glanced down at his shoes. "I wanted it to be special."

"It will be no matter what," the grey-haired boy countered, crossing his arms over his chest. "But if you wait too long the answer might not be what you want."

With furrowed brows, Sawamura's gaze flickered back up to his best friend. "Do you really think that?"

"I think if you string her along for a while it's a possibility," Sugawara sighed, his friend's obvious distress something he never liked to see. "But she doesn't seem like someone who gives up so easily."

"How is it stringing her along if I've already confessed?" Sawamura ran a hand through his hair. "It's not like she doesn't know how I feel."

"How is she supposed to know what you want from her if you don't let her know?"

"It's just a label, Suga."

"It is," he agreed. "But it's also symbolic of the nature of your relationship."

A disappointed hum left Sawamura's lips. "You're right...she was pretty anxious about it all earlier. But how do I ask?"

"You just do," Sugawara shrugged. "It doesn't have to be some huge ordeal Daichi. It's real life, not a movie."

"Suzume's confession was so thoughtful and romantic," the brunette's lips pulled up into a small smile as his heart warmed at the thought. "She deserves a special moment too."

"So what did you have in mind then, Romeo?"

Sawamura's smile widened as an idea popped into his head. "I think I'm gonna need your help, Suga."


	22. Chapter 22

"My hands hurt,” Hinata whined as he shook out his fingers, dropping the needle and thread he’d been holding and flopping back dramatically on the cold wooden gymnasium floor. “How many more of these are left?” 

“If you’re going to complain, at least keep threading the damn cranes,” Kageyama grumbled, picking up another folded bird to add to his string. 

“I think we’ve probably gotten through at least half of them between all of us,” Sugawara cheered, trying to keep the momentum going during such a tedious task. “We’re making great time!” 

“Remind me why we’re doing this again?” Narita sighed whilst finishing the loop on a wonky navy blue paper crane. 

“Because when a teammate asks for help, you help him,” Ennoshita added, doing his best to ignore the dull ache in his fingers from tying so many delicate loops. 

“And Daichi worked hard on these,” Azumane hummed with a thoughtful smile. “It’s pretty amazing if you think about it.”

“You know, for someone who looks so frightening you’re a real wuss,” Nishinoya teased, elbowing the ace’s side. 

Azumane’s smile fell and his brow furrowed sadly as he looked over at his younger teammate. “I’m not a wuss, I can just appreciate how much effort Daichi put into these things.” 

Tsukishima eyed the _very_ misshapen pink polka dot crane in his hand before glancing over at Azumane. “Doesn’t look like he put in a lot of effort to me.” 

“ _Tsukki_ ,” Yamaguchi tsked, his cheeks beginning to turn a soft pink in second-hand embarrassment. “It’s not like they’re easy to fold.” 

“Most of them aren’t very good,” Sawamura admitted with a sigh, looking around the gym at the bags full of folded cranes left to gather and his teammates spread about on the floor. “But I started to get pretty good at it by the end.” 

“Only took a thousand tries,” Tsukishima quipped back with a smirk. 

“I think the last two hundred are good. So only eight hundred tries,” Sawamura chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. 

“ _Only_ ,” Tanaka laughed, looking over at Shimizu with hearts in his eyes. “The things we do for love.” 

Nishinoya sighed with a dopey smile as he also looked over at their beautiful team manager. “I’d fold a thousand paper cranes for you, Kiyoko-san!”

Shimizu’s eyes flickered up to meet his and she blinked. “Please don’t.”

The room erupted in laughter as Nishinoya’s heart fluttered, a smile still on his lips just from her acknowledgement. 

What only one person had noticed was the paled expression Sawamura now held. He’d spent every spare moment he had and stayed up late every night for over a week folding paper cranes in hopes that the legend was true. Hoping that if he folded a thousand paper cranes the Gods would grant him one wish - and he knew exactly what he wanted to do with that wish. 

What he hadn’t considered until this moment, until he had every member of their team sprawled about with dozens of bags of paper cranes surrounding them, was the notion that Kusaka might not like it. Sure, it was a grand gesture, but it was ultimately a selfish one - wasn’t it? 

With widened eyes, Yachi’s heart raced as her anxiety took hold of her. She leaned over and desperately tapped Hinata’s shoulder several times in quick succession. He stopped laughing and tilted his head to the side when he saw his classmate’s concern. “Hm? What’s wrong, Yachi-san?” 

Both her fingers rapidly pointed to Sawamura as she grimaced, not knowing what to do or say to help. “Oh,” Hinata hummed, bringing his hand to his chin as he tried to think of the right thing to say. 

Clearing his throat, Hinata spoke over the dying laughter. “Maybe Shimizu-senpai wouldn’t like it but I bet Kusaka-san will, Captain.”

All eyes focused on Sawamura after Hinata’s words registered with them, but not all were as concerned as others. Sugawara, who felt like he knew Kusaka quite well at this point, had no doubt in his mind that the gesture would be well received. He smiled kindly at his friend and patted his shoulder. “Worry doesn’t suit you, Daichi.” 

“Y-yeah,” Yachi stammered as she chimed in. “I-if it was me I would be totally flattered.” 

The girl’s cheeks flushed and she waved her hands furiously in front of her chest. “Not that you would ever fold a thousand paper cranes for me but in a completely different situation. With someone else! Or uhh-”

“She’ll like it,” Tsukishima interrupted, not wanting to listen to more of Yachi’s blabbering but also simultaneously saving Yachi from herself, leaving her to let out a huge sigh of relief. 

Sawamura’s eyes focused on Tsukishima a few feet away, his legs crossed as he sat with a pile of threaded cranes in his lap. The blond hadn’t bothered to look up, choosing to focus on the task at hand in an effort to get it over with as quickly as possible. “She wrote you that sappy song, she’d likely be receptive to some embarrassing gesture like this.” 

“Aw,” Tanaka cooed. “Our little Tsukishima is growing up!” 

“It happened so fast,” Nishinoya wicked away a fake tear. 

“You two are a broken record,” Tsukishima muttered as he rolled his eyes. Whether he admitted it aloud or not, he was quite fond of Kusaka and despite finding Sawamura incredibly satisfying to rile up, he thought the guy was alright too. 

Of course, he also figured that the more time that was spent trying to reinforce Sawamura’s decision, the longer they’d all be there and naturally he wanted to be anywhere but that gym at eight in the evening on a Friday.

“Thanks, Tsukishima,” Sawamura nodded, feeling more relieved hearing it from him than from anyone else and grateful that he’d bothered to try and put his mind to ease - even if it was mostly self-serving. 

“Whatever,” he mumbled. “Let’s just get this over with.” 

\--

Gripping at Sawamura’s hand a little tighter as they walk a dusty path through a forested area on the outskirts of the city, Kusaka looked up at him. “Uh, Daichi?”

“Hm?”

“Are you really not going to tell me where we’re going?”

“I told you earlier,” Sawamura chuckled lowly, his bright eyes sparkling down at the girl he hoped would soon want to be attached to him. “You’ll see when we get there.”

Letting out a quiet huff of annoyance, Kusaka tilted her head back and looked up at the twilight sky above, reminding her of the first time Sawamura had walked her home. “It’s getting pretty dark…”

“I know, it’ll be perfect,” he murmured, squeezing her hand confidently despite the anxiety that constricted the muscles in his chest.

“You’re lucky I trust you,” Kusaka grumbled. “This is like the beginning of a horror movie when the murderer lures their prey into a secluded area.”

“I never thought of it that way,” he laughed, leaning down to place a kiss on the side of her head as he anticipated what was about to come. “I figured it was more like a different genre.”

“What kind of movie h-“

A cool wind wrapped around the pair as they turned a corner, revealing to them a clearing with a small grassy pond with dozens of fireflies floating above its surface, illuminating its still water and the few lily pads surfing atop. “ _Wow_ ,” she breathed.

Sawamura’s thumb brushed against her soft skin, his gentle touch bringing her attention back to him. “This is beautiful, Daichi,” Kusaka hummed, her eyes flickering up to his. 

“Still think it’s like the beginning of a horror movie?” He chuckled, the corners of his eyes crinkling up in a way that warmed her heart. 

Her lips curved and she pushed herself up on her tiptoes to plant a kiss on his cheek. “Of course not. Thank you for bringing me here, I almost can’t believe I’m seeing something this beautiful in person.” 

“I know the feeling,” Sawamura’s smile softened as he gazed down at Kusaka, the lingering sensation of her lips on his cheek only furthering the fluttering of his stomach. “That’s how I feel whenever I’m with you.” 

Biting down on her bottom lip as she shyly looked away, Kusaka's focus was back on the soft golden orbs bouncing around only a few feet away. Though Sawamura hadn’t held back on openly complimenting her now that they had both shared their feelings just over a week prior, Kusaka didn’t think she’d ever adjust to it. The mere incredulity of someone so wonderful not only showering her with praises but being so affectionate in a way that seemed effortless to him was something she couldn’t wrap her head around.

Kusaka never thought herself to be anything other than a peculiar girl who blended into the crowd with ease, but the way Sawamura made her feel challenged that. The way his attention was now always focused on her when they were in the same room, how he’d smile sweetly any time she looked his way, and the soft adoring gaze he’d often bestowed upon her all contributed to Kusaka having to question if she truly was nothing special like she thought. Because if someone so incredible could feel this way towards her - maybe she was wrong. 

“It’s cute how you get so shy when I compliment you,” Sawamura mused, watching her bloomed cheeks turn a deeper shade while she studied the picturesque landscape before her. 

“Don’t tease me, Daichi,” the brunette rolled her eyes, tucking her hair behind her ear with her free hand. 

“I’m not teasing, I’m just stating a fact,” he pointed out as he poked her rosy cheek. “Your blush is so pretty.” 

“Daichiiiii,” Kusaka whined. As she turned her head sharply away from him to hide the raging fire in her cheeks, movement in the distance caught her eye and she furrowed her brows slightly. “What th-”

“Oh, I almost forgot about that,” Sawamura laughed, so amused with her shyness that their true purpose there nearly slipped his mind. 

Kusaka slipped her fingers out of his grip as she walked closer to the edge of the clearing, approaching the many autumnal trees that lined the area. It was hard to make out in the dark at first, but within a few steps, she was able to focus on the details. Gently rustling in the breeze, a curtain of paper cranes swayed from the branches of a span of trees and the absurd beauty of such a thing puzzled her greatly. 

Sawamura watched as Kusaka ran her fingertips across a few strands, a delicate smile dancing upon her lips as her eyes filled with awe. When her gaze finally flickered over to him and the tender smile he held, she tilted her head to the side. “How do you think these got here? This is crazy.” 

A breathy laugh escaped Sawamura - she really didn’t piece it together? “A ladder and a few friends,” he shrugged. 

The girl’s smile dropped and her eyes widened as the realization finally hit her. “W-what?” 

“Suga even convinced Tsukishima to let Hinata get on his shoulders to try and get a few high branches,” Sawamura’s lips pulled up at the memory of his team pulling together to help him once again that afternoon. 

“No way.” 

“Yeah. He did let him immediately fall off without attempting to help though. So I feel like it wasn’t exactly a win, but it wasn’t nothing.” 

Kusaka laughed at the thought of the orange-haired boy climbing up Tskishima like a monkey, her eyes drawn back to the flightless birds. “That’s probably the best you could’ve hoped for from him.” 

“It was certainly more than I expected,” he hummed, reaching out for her hand and threading his fingers with hers. 

The brunette brushed her free hand across a few strands of colourful, albeit wonky, cranes before rubbing a few small circles against Sawamura’s skin. “Did you make all of these?” 

Despite her hushed tone, Sawamura could hear the astonishment in her voice and hummed in response. When he used his thumb to adjust her chin and guide her attention back to him, the tears forming in her eyes tugged at his heart. “You okay, Hummingbird?” He murmured, letting his forehead dip to rest against hers.

Kusaka’s watery eyes connected with his and she pursed her lips as she swallowed back the lump in her throat. “Why did you go to all this trouble?” 

“Legend says that if you fold a thousand paper cranes the gods will grant you a wish,” he nudged her nose gently with his. “And I really didn’t want to risk it.” 

“Risk what?” 

“Risk you saying no,” he smiled before gifting her a light kiss, letting his lips hover a millimetre away from hers as he breathed the question he’d been aching to ask. “Will you be my girlfriend, Suzume?” 

Kusaka’s heart felt as if it were about to beat out of her chest and her body didn’t let her mind voice her reply before her lips closed the minuscule distance between their mouths with an earnest kiss. Her arms lifted to wrap around his neck while his wrapped firmly around her waist, pulling her against his chest in an effort to feel as much of her warmth as possible. 

Their lips harmonized passionately as the moment stole them away from the past and the future, keeping them firmly planted in the present. Kusaka’s fingers grasped the wisps of hair at the base of his neck and his grip loosened in response as he cupped her cheek in his hand, giving her a soft kiss before once again resting his forehead against hers. 

Biting down on her bottom lip as she smiled sheepishly up at Sawamura, Kusaka hummed her reply. “Of course. You didn’t need to waste your wish on that,” she pressed her lips against his, still completely amazed that he had gone to all of this trouble just for her. “I would’ve said yes anyway.”

“I couldn’t take the chance.”

\--

A hand clamped over Nishinoya's mouth the moment Sugawara heard him take a deep breath. Hiding across the pond without Sawamura's consent, the Karasuno boy's volleyball team watched as their captain won over the girl of his dreams - the girl they'd all seen him fall head over heels for in a matter of weeks...and the girl who inadvertently had them all damning her because of their painful needle-poked fingertips. 

"If you say anything, I will tell Shimizu about the time you alm-"

Nishinoya's eyes widened and he shook his head fiercely, his entire being filling with dread at the possibility of Sugawara revealing his most embarrassing secret to his crush. 

Satisfied with the response, Sugawara let his hand fall back to his side, only to have Tsukishima immediately blow their cover as the couple continued to make out. 

"If you're going to suck face, at least do it in private," the blond called out, standing up from his crouched position and stretching out his legs with a satisfactory smirk. 

"Why did you bother coming if you were going to complain the whole time, Tsukishima?!" Sugawara scolded, rising to his feet to swat the middle blocker's shoulder. 

Kusaka squinted as she looked towards the unmistakable bickering. "Is that-"

"Sorry, I told them they couldn't come," Sawamura let out a quiet laugh before turning to glare at the ragtag group of teenagers. 

"We'll be leaving now!" Azumane called out, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly while waving with his other hand. 

"Yeah! So you two can get all _hot and heavy_ without an audience this time," Tanaka's laughter was contagious as the rest of the team caught a case of the giggles. 

Sugawara waved apologetically as he rounded up the gang and began to shoo them back towards the weathered path home but he couldn't help teasing his friend, pausing only to call out over his shoulder, "You didn't forget the condom Coach Ukai gave you the other day, did you?"

Sawamura's entire expression fell as his cheeks bloomed an intense shade of crimson. His hands fell away from his girlfriend and immediately clenched into fists as he began to stomp in the direction of his tormentor. Kusaka laughed melodically as she reached out and grabbed his arm, tugging him back to her side.

In no mood to let anyone steal this moment away from them, the brunette snaked her hands behind his neck and guided him closer to her as she stretched upward. Two hearts beat in perfect sync as their lips met once again, leaving no room for doubt as they shared an embrace they both knew they'd never forget. 


End file.
